SECONn OOPV, 
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LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. 



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Chapr.- .— . Copyright No,„,.__._. 
Slielf„..___„. 



UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 



PERSONAL WORK 



S. M. SAYFORD. 



We must work the works of Him that sent me, 
while it is day: the night cometh, when no man can 
work. John ix. 4. 

Run, speak to this young man. Zech. ii. 4. 



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NEW YORK: 

THE INTERNATIONAL COMMITTEE OF 

YOUNG MEN'S CHRISTIAN 

ASSOCIATIONS. 



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ll 



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38227 



COPYRIGHT 1899 
BY 

THE INTERNATIONAL COMMITTEE 

OF YOUNG MEN'S CHRISTIAN 
ASSOCIATIONS. 






VEO, 







TO 
EDWARD R. GRAVES, 

OF LOCKPORT, N.Y. 

(FOR MANY YEARS A COMMERCIAL TRAVELER), 

WHOSE PERSISTENT AND TACTFUL 

PERSONAL EFFORTS 

BROUGHT THE AUTHOR TO JESUS 

AND INTO WORK FOR THE EXTENSION OF 

CHRIST'S KINGDOM, 

THIS VOLUME IS GRATEFULLY 
INSCRIBED. 



PREFACE. 

A number of my fellow-workers have been urging 
me to present in some permanent form, especially 
for the Christian students in our institutions of 
learning, results of my experience in the study and 
practice of personal work. Whether my compliance 
with the request of these friends will supply a need, 
or even present new thoughts, in connection with 
this important part of Christian activity, can only 
be determined when the following pages have gone 
upon their mission. 

I am under special obligations to the International 
Committee of Young Men's Christian Associations 
for the liberty to quote from or use its valuable 
pamphlets on this subject, and I take the liberty to 
arrange desirable texts of Scripture after the method 
used by Mr. Dyson Hague in "Ways to Win." 

My hope is that this book may prove a help to 
young people who desire to bring men to Jesus. My 
ambition is to write it in such a way that the 
perusal of its pages may incite the reader to more 
earnest religious effort. My prayer is that the 
Master, in whose name it is written, will approve it, 
and that, therefore, it may help extend His king- 
dom among men. 

SAMUEL M. SAYFORD. 

Newton, Mass., May, 1899. 



CONTENTS. 

PAGE 

I. Personal Work, 9 

II. The Personal Worker, 21 

III. Spiritual Equipment, 31 

IV. Training, 45 

V. Methods, 57 

VI. Illustrations from Scripture, . . 71 
VII. Illustrations from Life, .... 83 

VIII. Opportunities, 109 

Appendix I, Useful Scripture Texts, . .121 
Appendix II, The Worker's Library, . .129 



PERSONAL WORK. 



" John .... saith, Behold the Lamb of God ! And the two 
disciples heard him speak, and they followed Jesus." 

"Andrew findeth first his own brother Simon, .... He brought 
him unto Jesus." 

"Philip findeth Nathanael, and saith unto him, We have found 
Him, of whom Moses in the law, and in the prophets, did write, 
Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph." 



Look up the following references and read them 
prayerfully. 



Matt. xx. i -i 6. 
Mark ix. 1 7. 
Mark xvi. 15. 
Luke vii. 11 -14. 
John i. 29-51. 
John ix. 4. 
Acts viii. 26-31. 
I. Cor. xv. 58. 
James v. 19, 20. 



Mark v. 19, 20. 
Mark xiii. 34. 
Luke v. 10. 
Luke x. 30-37. 
John v. 6-9. 
Acts iii. 1-8. 
Acts xvi. 25-31. 
Col. i. 28, 29. 
Rev. xxii. 17. 



I.— PERSONAL WORK. 

He first findeth his own brother Simon, and saith unto him, We 
have found the Messiah (which is being interpreted, Christ). He 
brought him unto Jesus. John i. 41. 

Personal work has the authority of the Scriptures 
and the example of Jesus and His disciples. 

The spirit of the Gospel is the spirit of activity. 
Idleness is deprecated ; earnestness and zeal are 
commended. He who " came not to be ministered 
unto, but to minister," "went about doing good." 
It was He who said on one occasion to His disciples, 
" We must work the works of Him that sent Me 
while it is day : the night cometh when no man can 
work." 

Personal work is the woof and warp of Christian 
activity ; therefore this important element of service 
has the largest place in the extension of Christ's 
kingdom, and every disciple of Jesus Christ is under 
obligation to engage in it. It does not necessarily 
involve the conversion of the person approached, but 
the attempt to win him, which is the ultimate object 
always in the mind of the worker. The work itself 
consists in directing the attention of men to Him, 
and, with discretion, urging them to accept the 



12 PERSONAL WORK. 

invitations of the Gospel, and order their lives by- 
its teaching. 

John said, " Behold the Lamb of God, which 
taketh away the sin of the world ! " and again he 
said, " Behold the Lamb of God ! " And the two 
disciples [of John] heard him speak, and they fol- 
lowed Jesus. 

Personal work then, as applied to individual effort 
in extending the kingdom of Christ, is the directing 
of the attention of one individual, by another indi- 
vidual, to Jesus of Nazareth as the Lamb of God, 
the Saviour of sinners. 

Dr. H. Clay Trumbull says, in the February 
number of The Intercollegian : " On one occasion I 
heard testimony given of a student who was thus 
habitually faithful to his Master and to his fellow 
students which well illustrates the possibility and 
the value of such a habit of life. A number of 
clergymen in a New England city were criticising the 
methods of a well-known evangelist. One of the 
number, who was rector of the principal Episcopal 
church in the city, said to the others, earnestly : 
'You will understand that the public methods of 
this man's work are not such as I should incline to ; 
but I want to bear witness to his fidelity to his Mas- 
ter in all his life course. I was his fellow-student in 
college. I knew him well there. And this I can 
say of him : in all the four years of his college 
course, no student could be six weeks there without 
having to meet squarely the question of his personal 



PERSONAL WORK. 13 

relation to Christ, through the loving and earnest 
personal appeal of that follower of Christ. I know 
more than one who was thus influenced by him. In 
my own case, I was a skeptic when I entered col- 
lege, yet I had little thought on the subject of reli- 
gion anyway. But that man's appeals I had to meet, 
and I would not resist. It is in consequence of his 
faithfulness that my life is in the Christian ministry. 
And now, whatever I think of that man's peculiar 
methods of public Christian work, I cannot but be 
grateful for his personal fidelity to his Master and 
ours.' That was having personal work for souls a 
habit of life. What if there were only ten such 
Christian men as that student in every college class ? 
What if there were even one ? Why should there 
not be more ? " 

Individual effort differs from the comprehensive 
work of the ministry in that it has to do with the 
one man, rather than with an audience of many. It 
finds the one man, and, finding him, presses upon his 
attention the love of God in the gift of Jesus Christ, 
and the claim He has on every one who hears of 
Him. Comparatively few men are called into the 
regular ministry, but all who put their trust in the 
Lord Jesus, and promise to follow Him, are called 
into service. "To each one his work." Every man 
is to a degree responsible for the spiritual life and 
condition of some other man. We are interdepend- 
ent beings. That which affects the one affects the 
many. If I have received "the free gift of God," 



14 PERSONAL WORK. 

which "is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord"; 
if I have become a partaker of the divine nature ; if 
I have a well-grounded hope for the future, — it is 
my duty to share the " glad tidings " with my brother 
man. There is nothing in which this old world 
needs to have so great an interest as in the story 
of Him who came "to give His life a ransom for 
many" ; and He bids us preach this Gospel to every 
creature. Philip may not have been able to preach 
eloquently, nor to have explained much about the 
Messiah, but he could find Nathaniel, and say unto 
him : " We have found Him, of whom Moses in the 
law, and the prophets did write, Jesus of Nazareth, 
the son of Joseph Come and see." 

These considerations lead to the first general 
proposition which I wish to emphasize ; namely, that 
every Christian is under obligation to do personal 
work. 

The fact of our being saved, almost always, through 
some human instrumentality, makes it incumbent 
upon us to help save some one else. It is a debt 
which we owe to humanity. But we are under a 
higher obligation to do this work, for the reason 
that it pleased God, when here in the flesh, to call 
men rather than angels into His service. When we 
think of our inertness and sinfulness, we may well 
wonder why the Lord Jesus did not commission an 
angelic ministry for this exalted service. We may 
well marvel that he said to mere men, " Follow me, 
and I will make you fishers of men " ; that he said to 



PERSONAL WORK. 15 

a man, " From henceforth thou shalt catch men " ; 
that he said to Saul of Tarsus, " For to this end I 
have appeared unto thee, to appoint thee a minister 
and a witness, both of the things wherein thou hast 
seen Me, and of the things wherein I will appear 
unto thee ; delivering thee from the people, and 
from the Gentiles, unto whom I send thee, to open 
their eyes, that they may turn from darkness to 
light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that 
they may receive remission of sins, and an inheri- 
tance among them that are sanctified by faith in 
Me." What a glorious privilege ! What marvelous 
possibilities are put within the reach of a man ! 
Jesus stated distinctly that His disciples were to be 
His witnesses ; that they were to preach the Gospel 
to every creature, to testify for Him in all parts of 
the world ; and that He would be with them always, 
even unto the end. 

Another reason why a Christian is under obliga- 
tion to do this work is, because everywhere in the 
Scriptures, as already suggested, activity is com- 
mended and idleness rebuked. 

And, lastly, we are under obligation to find that 
other man, because, if we fail to warn him, he may 
be lost, and the awful responsibility may be ours. 
" Therefore hear the word at my mouth, and give 
them warning from Me. When I say unto the 
wicked, O wicked man, thou shalt surely die, and 
thou dost not speak to warn the wicked from his 
way, that wicked man shall die in his iniquity, but 



16 PERSONAL WORK. 

his blood will I require at thine hand" (Ezek. xxxiii. 
7, 8). Our Lord has gone to prepare a place for us, 
and He bids us watch; to "occupy till He come." 
Personal responsibility is thus laid upon the Chris- 
tian ; and this thought doubtless impelled Paul in 
writing, not only to the Christians in Corinth, but to 
" all that in every place call upon the name of the 
Lord Jesus Christ," to be " always abounding in the 
work of the Lord." 

My second proposition is one which may be 
opposed Jto the theory or opinion held by many who 
have written or spoken on the subject, but which I 
hold to be perfectly demonstrable ; namely, that per- 
sonal work is not difficult to do. 

This I affirm : First, because of what Jesus says in 
Matt. xi. 30 : " For my yoke is easy, and my bur- 
den is light." Second, because we are ambassadors 
on behalf of Christ, as though God were intreating 
by us : .... " And working together with Him we 
intreat." And, third, because of the naturalness of 
approach among men through personal conversation 
and personal correspondence. 

I do not mean that there are no difficulties con- 
nected with the prosecution of such work, that 
every man is equally easy of access, or that every 
Christian finds it equally congenial or easy to do. 
But I do maintain that this personal work element 
enters so largely into all the affairs of life ; and that 
since all men in their business are accustomed to 
do more or less of it in one way or another, it is 



PERSONAL WORK. 17 

comparatively easy for them to apply this method of 
work to the promulgation of the Gospel, and to 
acquainting others, personally, with its invitations 
and claims. 

Observe the prominent part which personal work 
with others plays in business life. The merchant is 
obliged to employ the commercial traveler to per- 
sonally solicit patronage from the men to whom he 
carries his samples, as he travels from town to 
town. His methods of approach may be profitably 
studied by those of us who desire to engage in the 
work we now have under discussion. Note, too, the 
vast amount of personal solicitation done through 
business correspondence : cards, circulars, and let- 
ters, sealed under letter-postage and personally ad- 
dressed, in order to command the personal attention 
of those whose patronage is desired. 

It is practically the same in social life. Lodges 
and clubs are always projected and conducted 
through personal effort. Receptions, banquets/ and 
other social events are discussed for days, and often 
for weeks, before they occur. Social calls are made 
with special reference to intensifying the interest in 
the coming event, and no opportunity is neglected 
to command and keep the attention of all whose 
interest is desired. 

Our political machinery affords another illustra- 
tion of this same principle. Political parties are 
managed, to a great extent, through the employment 
of personal instrumentality. Men who control 



18 PERSONAL WORK. 

the political machinery of an entire state do it 
mainly through their personal knowledge of, and 
contact with, individuals. The leaders keep in per- 
sonal touch with " pivotal men," and these in turn 
come in touch with the voter. In the national elec- 
tion of 1896, Mr. Mark Hanna's great postal card 
scheme, by which the personal attention of thou- 
sands of individual voters was secured and their 
co-operation solicited, was a striking illustration of 
the value and importance of personal effort through 
correspondence. 

In college life this same element enters into all 
the methods of the institution, and constitutes its 
life. Personal contact between instructor and pupil 
is most desirable, and is even necessary to the best 
work. Literary societies, fraternities, athletic organ- 
izations are what they are because of the vast 
amount of personal effort employed in their interest. 

Every introduction of one individual to another, 
every social call, every conversation carried on 
between two persons, is an illustration of the nat- 
uralness and the necessity of personal effort, and 
proves, in part at least, the reasonableness of my 
second proposition. 

The difficulties met with in trying to win men to 
Christ are due, in most instances, to the conscious 
or unconscious dependence of the worker on his own 
effort, his own argument, his own training, instead 
of reliance on the Holy Spirit to regenerate and 
unite man to God in Jesus Christ. Man is only the 



PERSONAL WORK. 19 

instrument. Let him witness for Christ, relying on 
God to use his testimony, and this work which he is 
privileged to do becomes his delight. And under 
such conditions the work is not difficult to do. 

Were all professing Christians conscientiously en- 
gaged in personal work the problems of the Church 
would be speedily solved. 

In an interesting discussion on church attendance, 
the Rev. Howard A. Bridgman concluded an article 
in The Independent (November 3, 1898), as follows : 
"But the problem remains to beget an interest in 
the average non-church goer in the needs of the 
spiritual life. For this we must solicit men one by 
one. There is no other way. We may talk to the 
end of the century about methods and about the 
problem. But it may be time to act on the prin- 
ciple which governed the profound Squeers in the 
conduct of his school, i when a boy knows a thing he 
goes and does it.' We ought to know personally 
some of the persons in regard to whom we theorize 
so much ; and if the Church of Jesus Christ means 
anything to us, if we get anything from its ministra- 
tions and its sacraments ; if we believe that, despite 
its frailties and inconsistencies, it is the divinest 
institution the world possesses to-day ; then let us go 
out after other men, not men in the lump, but one 
by one. Given sufficient tact and persistence, we 
shall find some way to induce them to come to 
God's house, and then to cast their lot with His 
people." 



20 PERSONAL WORK. 

Will My Fellow Christian Address to Him- 
self the Following Personal Inquiry ? 

Do I recognize the obligation incumbent upon me, 
and therefore realize the responsibility which is mine, 
by reason of my environment and opportunities ? 

Do I admit the naturalness of personal approach 
through conversation and correspondence, and, there- 
fore, recognize the comparative ease with which per- 
sonal work may be done ? 

Am I solicitous for the highest welfare of my 
fellow-men ? 

Do I resolve, now, to improve at least one of 
the opportunities which are of constant occurrence, 
and by the blessing of God be alert for souls ? 



THE 
PERSONAL WORKER. 



" What manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy living and 
godliness." 

" Like the Holy One which called you is holy, be ye yourselves 
also holy in all manner of living." 

" Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might." 

" For we are God's fellow-workers." 



Read the verses indicated by the following refer- 
ences. Spend time in the consideration of each 
verse ; memorize in order to retain them ; and then 
bring your life, by the blessing of God, into harmony 
with their teaching. 

John iv. 35, 36. Rom. xii. 1, 2. 

John ix. 4. II. Tim. ii. 15. 

John xv. 5. I. Cor. iii. 7, 8. 

Dan. xii. 3. II. Tim. iii. 17. 

I. Tim. iv. 12, 13. I. Thess. v. 22. 

Eph. iv. 29, 30. I. Pet. ii. 11. 
Rev. xxii. 12. 



II. — THE PERSONAL WORKER 

One who would do personal religious work with 
any reasonable degree of success must be, first of 
all, a converted man, — that is, regenerated by the 
Holy Ghost, — and possess the qualities of the new 
life in Christ. He must know Him whom to know 
is life eternal. And he must know from the 
authority of God's word that he has passed from 
death, or out of death, into life. He must believe 
the Bible as the word of God ; that the Gospel is 
the power of God unto salvation to every one that 
believeth ; that men are lost, and that Christ came 
to save them ; that all who accept Him become chil- 
dren of God, " being born not of blood, nor of the 
will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God " ; 
that this new life is in Christ. He must have hatred 
for sin, and love for righteousness. 

Such is the ideal personal worker. Of course I 
do not say that one lacking the assurance of accept- 
ance with God, who is not enlightened to the extent 
above indicated, cannot do personal work ; but rather 
that this assurance is essential if one would work 
easily and with large expectation of success. 

It is necessary, furthermore, that the personal 
worker should have a knowledge of the Scriptures, 
and be a habitual student of them, because they 



24 THE PERSONAL WORKER. 

testify of Jesus Christ and the way of life ; because 
they make wise unto salvation ; and also because 
"the word of God is living and active, a discerner 
of the thoughts and intents of the heart." 

He must be a praying man, — a man habitually 
given to prayer, — having the right to pray, because 
he is leading the right kind of a life. " The suppli- 
cation of a righteous man availeth much in its work- 
ing." Prayer as to the form may be right, but the 
pray-er may be wrong. When the conditions are 
met, prayer becomes " the key that opens the cabi- 
net of God, and unlocks the treasures of heaven." 
Being saved, and entrusted with such tremendous 
interests, there is nothing He will deny us. The 
words of Jesus in John xiv. 1 3 are preeminently for 
a worker : " Whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, 
that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in 
the Son." 

It is as if our government were to commission one 
of its citizens to make extended explorations in an 
unknown land, or to carry out some undertaking 
involving a large expenditure of money, and should 
say to him, " Ask for what you need and it shall be 
supplied." With what marvelous authority one is 
empowered when such a privilege is coupled with 
such an assurance ! The need will, of necessity, be 
for the furtherance of the work, and the glory of 
him who creates the mission. 

Furthermore, prayer, in so far as it is conversa- 
tion with God, is expressive of fellowship with Him ; 



THE PERSONAL WORKER. 25 

the result of such fellowship is an abounding love, 
increasing confidence, more childlike dependence, 
greater boldness, larger expectation, intensified desire 
to please Him, and a deeper yearning for the com- 
ing of the King, and the establishment of His king- 
dom. Matthew Henry says : " I have a friend and 
a neighbor who is very wealthy, very wise, and 
vastly agreeable. He is withal of most generous 
disposition, very obliging, and loves me dearly. To 
him I resort often : sometimes to borrow, sometimes 
to ask as a gift what I know he is glad to bestow ; now 
again for instruction or advice ; but many a time only 
for a rare gossip, an entertaining chat. So in all 
these ways, and for just such ends, do I go to God." 

There can be no real spirituality without prayer. 
As Murray says, " It is the very essence of true 
religion, the channel of all blessing, the secret of 
power and life." 

Thus far I have dwelt upon the spiritual qualities, 
or the religious character, of a personal worker — 
the spiritual characteristics of a man who has 
become a partaker of the divine nature, and desires 
to serve God in obedience to the commands of Jesus 
Christ. I desire now to consider his natural endow- 
ments or equipment. Much is said about " conse- 
crated common sense," which means common sense 
in prosecuting the Lord's work, as well as in living 
the life we have through faith in Him. So far as 
this quality has to do with personal work, it means 
being tactful in approaching men. 



26 THE PERSONAL WORKER. 

The word most suggestive, though not in common 
use, of all the natural qualities so desirable in a per- 
sonal worker, is gumption, which may be defined as 
a combination of capacity, shrewdness, address : ca- 
pacity, in the sense of possessing knowledge and 
ideas that others may be blessed thereby ; shrewd- 
ness, in the sense of being sagacious, wise, having a 
penetrating and comprehensive mind ; address, in 
the sense of being pleasant in approaching men, 
and possessed of skill, adroitness, and dexterity. 
These qualities will make a man who is enlivened by 
the Holy Spirit preeminently successful in winning 
men to Christ. 

In this connection I want to emphasize the 
importance of good personal appearance and the 
indispensableness of a character above reproach. A 
Christian man ought to be careful in his dress, bear- 
ing, and manner. Tidiness and cleanliness are traits 
of refinement which we have a right to expect in 
one who makes himself, necessarily, more or less 
conspicuous when he becomes active in Christian 
work. Moreover, good character, or the reputation 
of possessing it, lends a strength to utterances or 
statements which puts them beyond question. 

" His words are bonds ; 
His iove sincere, his thoughts immaculate ; 
His heart as far from fraud as heaven from earth." 

A man lacking genuine character is not likely to 
desire personal work, and if he does he is in no 
sense fit to be entrusted with such a sacred charge. 



THE PERSONAL WORKER. 27 

There are many things which, in themselves, may 
not be sinful, but which, according to the inspired 
statement of Paul, are not expedient for Christian 
men. A personal worker who recites vulgar stories, 
who is given to dishonest practices in student, 
professional, or commercial life, who is given to 
worldliness, has neither power with God nor good 
influence over men. 

A young student in a New England college, a 
member of the Young Men's Christian Association, 
saw his room-mate express a desire to be a Christian 
during the progress of special religious meetings in 
the college. At the close of the meeting he came 
to the leader and said, " My chum arose for prayers 
this evening, and I don't know what to do about it." 
" Do ! " said the leader, " why, his public expression 
of desire presents a favorable opportunity for you to 
render him a most important service : you may lead 
him to decision. When in your room tonight take 
the old Book, and show him the way of life." 
"Ah," said he, "that is what I could have done had 
I not lost my influence with him. Ten days ago I 
was off on a spree with him, and we played cards for 
money." 

The nicest care should be exercised with reference 
to associates, associations, habits, and conversation. 
A personal worker should avoid dangerous indul- 
gences as he would avoid poison ; and dangerous 
companionships as he would a leper ; and dangerous 
places of resort as he would a pest house. 



28 THE PERSONAL WORKER, 

He should have faith : "Without faith it is impos- 
sible to be well-pleasing unto Him ; for he that 
cometh to God must believe that He is, and that He 
is a rewarder of them that seek after Him. ,, 

He should have humility : " And the Lord's ser- 
vant must not strive, but be gentle towards all, apt 
to teach, forbearing, in meekness instructing them 
that oppose themselves. " 

He should have personal purity : " But flee youth- 
ful lusts, and follow after righteousness, faith, love, 
peace, with them that call on the Lord out of a pure 
heart/ ' 

He must have patience : " But if we hope for that 
which we see not, then do we with patience wait for 
it." 

He must have love : " And if I have the gift of 
prophecy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge ; 
and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, 
but have not love, I am nothing." 

He must be prayerful and watchful: " With all 
prayer and supplication praying at all seasons in the 
Spirit, and watching thereunto in all perseverance 
and supplication for all the saints." 

Personal Inquiry. 

Let the following questions find an honest answer 
from the heart. The searching will do good. 

Am I a child of God through personal acceptance 
of Jesus Christ ? 



THE PERSONAL WORKER. 29 

Am I honestly striving to obey Him, and do I 
desire to serve Him ? 

Have I a regularly appointed time, every day, for 
secret prayer ? 

" Yet never sleep the sun up ; prayer should 
Dawn with the day ; there are set awful hours 
'Twixt heaven and us ; the manna was not good 
After sun-rising ; far day sullies flowers ; 
Rise to prevent the sun; sleep doth sin glut, 
And heaven's gate opens when the world's is shut." 

Am I studying the Scriptures with a view to 
acquire better equipment for life and service ? 

Do I love righteousness, and hate sin ? 

Have I discontinued the practice of every known 
sin ? 



SPIRITUAL EQUIPMENT. 



"And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in 
my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments and do them." 

" Your body is a temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, 
which ye have from God." 

" If ye love me, ye will keep my commandments. And I will 
pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that He 
may be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth." 

" And my speech and my preaching were not in persuasive words 
of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power." 

" I can do all things in Him that strengtheneth me." 



The following references will direct the reader to 
helpful texts, every one of which ought to be read 
carefully in connection with the perusal of this 
chapter. 

Luke ii. 25, 26. Acts ix. 17. 

Luke iii. 22. Rom. v. 5. 

Luke iv. 18. Rom. viii. 9, 10, 14. 

Luke xi. 13. I. Cor. ii. 4. 

John xiv. 15-17, 26. I. Cor. vi. 19. 

John xv. 26, 27. I. Cor. xii. 3-1 1. 

John xvi. 7-14. II. Cor. iii. 17. 

John xx. 22. II. Cor. vi. 16. 

Acts i. 2, 8. Gal. v. 16-18. 

Acts ii. 4, 30. Gal. v. 22-25. 

Acts viii. 1 5-20, 29. Eph. iv. 30. 

Ex. xxxv. 30-35. 



III. — SPIRITUAL EQUIPMENT. 

The last few years have marked a decided revival 
of interest in the study of the person and office of 
the Holy Spirit. Books, pamphlets, and contribu- 
tions to the religious press have multiplied, until 
now this doctrine is discussed with a freedom and 
assurance by many young converts that excites the 
wonder and pity of older Christians. The propriety 
of handling so deep a subject with such familiarity, 
until at least more study is given to the teachings 
of Christ, is justly deprecated. And yet it were 
better thus than not to have brought into prominence 
at all a subject than which there is none more im- 
portant among all religious topics. 

" Measured by the place it occupies in the Scrip- 
tures," says Tophel, "the doctrine of the Holy Spirit 
is in the foremost rank in the evangelical faith ; for, 
though it is the last to be revealed — because it 
crowns the Biblical edifice and requires a certain 
moral preparation in order to be well understood), 
this doctrine begins to form itself in the very first 
chapter of Genesis ; its elements can be gathered 
from nearly all the books of the Old Testament, 
while, as to those of the New Testament, from the 
Gospel of John to the end of the Apocalypse, we 
may affirm that they are filled with it." 



34 SPIRITUAL EQUIPMENT. 

It is not my purpose here to attempt an additional 
study of this supremely important and fascinating 
theme, but rather to emphasize its fundamental truth, 
and urge obedience to the commands of the Holy 
Spirit in order that His working in us may not be 
hindered. I desire to help establish the reader on a 
Biblical foundation for his conception of the Holy 
Spirit, and to expose the fallacy of basing one's assur- 
ance of the possession of this gracious gift of God on 
some ecstatic feeling or on a mere theory. I have met 
and conversed with many Christian young men who 
were greatly exercised about the power of the Holy 
Ghost. They had gone to Christian conventions ex- 
pressly to get it. They had tried to argue themselves 
into its possession, only to be perplexed and con- 
founded. They had been confident of its possession 
when they had talked eloquently in religious meet- 
ings, and were equally sure they failed to receive it 
when they lacked freedom of utterance. In Bruce's 
" Training of the Twelve," he says : "' Power from 
on high ' means all that the apostles were to gain 
from the mission of the Comforter — enlightenment 
of mind, enlargement of heart, sanctification of their 
faculties, and transformation of their characters, so 
as to make them whetted swords and polished shafts 
for subduing the world unto the truth ; these, or the 
effect of these combined, constituted the power for 
which Jesus directed the eleven to wait. The power, 
therefore, was a spiritual power, not a magical ; an 
inspiration, not a possession ; a power which was 



SPIRITUAL EQUIPMENT. 35 

not to act as a blind fanatical force, but to man- 
ifest itself as a spirit of love and of a sound mind. 
After the power descended the apostles were to be 
not less rational, but more ; not mad, but sober- 
minded ; not excited rhapsodists, but calm, clear, 
dignified expositors of divine truth, such as they 
appear in Luke's history of their ministry. In a 
word, they were to be less like their past selves and 
more like their Master ; no longer ignorant, childish, 
weak, carnal, but initiated into the mysteries of the 
kingdom, and habitually under the guidance of the 
Spirit of grace and holiness." 

This divine energy, "power from on high," is 
the sine qua non, the indispensable condition to 
success in all Christian work. The personal worker 
may possess all the qualities and qualifications, under 
natural endowment, considered in the preceding chap- 
ter, yet if he lacks this precious, priceless gift of God, 
his work, if done at all, will be done in the energy 
of the flesh rather than in the energy of the Spirit. 

What do we mean by the Holy Spirit ? What is 
the Holy Spirit ? (I take the liberty of quoting 
freely from Tophel at this point). " Is the Holy 
Spirit, as it has been so often represented, a mere 
influence exercised on the mind of man by scriptural 
truths ? Is it a disposition of the heart ; and do 
these words, ' If any man have not the Spirit of 
Christ, he is none of His,' only mean, ' He who is 
not animated by Christian sentiments is not a 
Christian ? ' Is it simply an emanation from God, an 



36 SPIRITUAL EQUIPMENT. 

action of God, a gift of God ? To all who study 
attentively, and who accept the numerous passages 
which relate to this question, the Holy Spirit is 
more than all that. He is not some vague thing 
indeterminable and incomprehensible. As some one 
has well said : ' He is not something, and something 
human, He is some one' The Holy Spirit is a Being, 
real, living, personal, one of the three persons of the 
Trinity ; a Being who, consequently, possesses all the 
perfections of God and all the Divine life. In His 
intimate union with the Son, the Holy Spirit is the 
unique organ by which God wills to communicate to 
man His own life, the supernatural life, the divine 
life ; that is to say, His holiness, His power, His love, 
and His felicity. In communicating Himself unto 
man, the Spirit does not separate Himself from the 
Father or from the Son. He remains one with them, 
and, moreover, He associates man to that union. The 
Spirit, therefore, causes Christ glorified to dwell in 
the heart of the believer, and through Christ God 
the Father. He takes that which is Christ's, that 
is to say, the nature of Christ, to communicate it unto 
the believer ; and, as that which belongs to Christ 
belongs to God, and that which belongs to God 
belongs to Christ, it is therefore the things of God, 
the life of God, the nature of God, the person of 
God, which the Holy Spirit communicates to the 
child of God." God's precious gift to this world 
was Himself in the person of Jesus Christ. God's pre- 
cious gift to His Church is Himself in the person 



SPIRITUAL EQUIPMENT, 37 

of the Holy Spirit. The late Dr. A. J. Gordon, 
in his " Ministry of the Spirit," says: "The Holy 
Spirit, as coming down to fill the place of the 
ascended Redeemer, has rightly been called ' The 
Vicar of Jesus Christ.' To Him the entire admin- 
istration of the Church has been committed until 
the Lord shall return in glory." The Church in her 
normal condition will " live and move and have her 
being " in a living sense of the Holy Spirit as a 
present force ; yea, even as the present God. And 
this is equally applicable to the individual member 
of the Church. We are to have Him as our host, 
and as our guest, when we comply with the condi- 
tions so clearly defined in the New Testament Scrip- 
tures. " Behold I stand at the door and knock : If 
any man hear my voice and open the door, I will 
come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with 
me." "If ye love me, ye will keep my command- 
ments. And I will pray the Father, and He shall 
give you another Comforter, that He may be with 
you for ever, even the Spirit of Truth, whom the 
world connot receive ; for it beholdeth Him not, 
neither knoweth Him : Ye know Him ; for He 
abideth with you, and shall be in you." "If a man 
love me, he will keep my word ; and my Father will 
love him, and we will come unto him, and make our 
abode with him" " Know ye not that your body is 
a temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which 
ye have from God ?" " It is God which worketh in 
you both to will and to work, for His good pleasure." 



38 SPIRITUAL EQUIPMENT. 

Oh for the consciousness of the ever present, 
indwelling, inworking God ! This is of paramount 
importance to all personal workers : God in us! God 
working in us! " You have often envied the happi- 
ness of Abraham, who received into his tent the 
ambassadors of Jehovah ! You would have wished 
to enter with the high priest into the Most Holy- 
Place, so as to behold that supernatural light which 
symbolized the presence of God ! Like Simon, you 
would wish to have borne the child Jesus in your 
arms ! It would have been precious to you to 
receive the Lord at your table, like the family at 
Bethany received Him ! And how oft have you 
regretted that you lived in the nineteenth century, 
rather than in the first, in Judea, so as to have seen 
Jesus face to face ! Well then, brother, whilst thou 
enviest that favor granted unto others, thou possess- 
est one before which all others grow dim. The 
honor reserved to the children of the new dispensa- 
tion is incomparably the greater. It is no longer, 
in fact, an angel, or an archangel ; it is no longer 
the symbol of the presence of God ; it is no longer 
the Christ, Son of man, Christ poor, Christ clothed 
in feeble flesh, Christ in humiliation : it is Christ 
exalted to glory, Christ all powerful, Christ one with 
the Father and the Spirit, Christ, by his glorification, 
become capable of uniting Himself in His very 
nature to our own nature ; it is God, Father, Son, 
and Holy Spirit, whom thou really hast in thee, if 
thou has within thee the Holy Spirit." 



SPIRITUAL EQUIPMENT. 39 

The two questions of supreme importance in this 
connection are : (i) Have I received the Holy Spirit 
by a simple act of faith in Jesus Christ ? (2) Am I 
presenting the most favorable conditions for His 
working in me and through me ? 

Paul says, in writing to the Ephesians : " Where- 
fore I was made a minister, according to the gift of 
that grace of God which was given me according to 
the working of His power." " For this cause I bow 
my knees unto the Father, .... that He would 
grant you according to the riches of His glory, that 
ye may be strengthened with power through the Spirit 
in the inward man!' " Be strong in the Lord and 
in the strength of His might." Writing to the 
Hebrews, he says: "Now the God of peace make 
you perfect in every good work to do His will, work- 
ing in us that which is well-pleasing in His sight, 
through Jesus Christ." To the Corinthian Chris- 
tians : " There are diversities of workings, but the 
same God who workethall things in all." 

Whether every Christian knows that he is " filled 
with the Spirit," or "baptized with the Spirit," or 
has the " enduement of power," is, in my judgment, 
not so important as whether he has the conscious- 
ness of being "indwelt of the Spirit," having God 
the Holy Spirit in him. My friend, Dr. Scofield, 
writing me on this subject, says : "When you take 
the position that a believer in Jesus Christ has the 
Holy Spirit, you are on impregnable ground. Faith 
has two classes of things to deal with, things which 



40 SPIRITUAL EQUIPMENT. 

are true and need but to be actualized in experience, 
and things which may be true when grasped by- 
faith. The mistake of many modern teachers on 
the Holy Spirit is in putting the Spirit into the 
last category. Ring out the truth that believers 
already have the Holy Spirit, and every conscious 
moment of their lives are either giving Him His 
rightful sway or else are grieving and quenching 
Him, and you will touch the conscience of the 
Church at a new point." 

To say that God the Holy Spirit is in the believer 
is to be in accord with the teaching of Scripture on 
this subject. God says, by the prophet Ezekiel : 
"And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause 
you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my 
judgments and do them." And by his servant Paul, 
He says : " But if any man hath not the Spirit of 
Christ he is none of His." " Know ye not that ye 
are a temple of God, and that the Spirit of God 
dwelleth in you?" To be filled with the Spirit 
means, whatever else it may mean, to let God have 
complete possession of my heart ; to give Him the 
right of way in my life ; to " put off the old man 
with his doings " ; to obey His commandments. 
The pewter cup at the spring can only be filled with 
the sparkling water when the pebbles, left in it by 
the child who played with it, are taken out. 

In the introduction to McNeal's " Spirit-Filled 
Life " — a book I wish every Christian would read — 
Andrew Murray says : " It is known that all do not 



SPIRITUAL EQUIPMENT. 41 

perfectly agree as to the best answer to the ques- 
tion, How to be filled with the Spirit ? Some press 
that aspect of truth which reminds us that the Holy 
Spirit has been given to the Church, and that He 
dwells in every believer, a fountain of living water. 
As there have been fountains clogged by stones and 
earth, and only needed to be cleared and opened up, 
so we have only to remove the hindrances, to yield 
ourselves in perfect surrender to the Spirit in us, 
and the filling will come. We must not ask God 
for more of the Spirit. God asks for more of us 
that the Spirit may have us wholly/' 

" Others, while admitting fully that the Spirit is 
in the believer, and that He asks for a more entire 
surrender, yet urge that it is from God direct that 
the filling of the Spirit must ever still be asked and 
received. God cannot give His spiritual gifts apart 
from Himself once for all. As the divine and ever- 
lasting One, He gives unceasingly. The Spirit is 
not given as if He had left heaven. He is in God 
and in the Church. It is from God Himself that 
larger measures of the Spirit must ever be sought 
and received." 

" Among those who hold this latter view, there is 
again somewhat of a diversity in the representation 
of truth. On the one hand we are reminded that it 
is "by faith" we receive the Holy Spirit, and that 
faith often has to rest and to act without any con- 
scious experience — has to walk in the dark. Souls 
that are fully surrendered to God are invited to 



42 SPIRITUAL EQUIPMENT. 

claim the promise and then to go and work in the 
full assurance that the Spirit is in them, and will in 
His fullness work through them. On the other 
hand, stress is laid on the words, " we receive the 
Spirit " by faith. The difference between believing 
and receiving is pointed out, and we are urged to 
wait until we receive what we claim, and know that 
God has anew filled us with the Spirit. "To be 
filled with the Spirit " is offered us as a definite, 
conscious experience." 

" With still other Christians there is to be found 
what may be regarded as a combination of these dif- 
ferent views. They believe that a very definite, 
conscious filling of the Spirit has been received by 
some, and may be had by all. Though from their 
own experience they cannot testify of it, they still 
look for God to do for them above what they have 
asked or thought. Meantime they know that God's 
Spirit is in them, and seek grace to know Him bet- 
ter, and to yield themselves to Him more undivid- 
edly. They believe that the Spirit within them is 
Himself leading them on to the Lord above them, 
whose it is to fill with the Spirit. They have 
claimed in faith the fullness ; they have placed them- 
selves to be filled ; they look to their Lord to fulfill 
His promises. Whether it comes in one swift 
moment or more gradually, they know it is theirs." 

I have quoted these words of Mr. Meyer to show 
what a variety of views there are on this subject. 
The studying of so many different theories has a 



SPIRITUAL EQUIPMENT. 43 

tendency to confuse the average Christian, and I 
have therefore aimed to hold to the simplest teach- 
ing of the Scriptures concerning God's working in 
us. The phase of truth I desire to impress upon 
the attention of the personal worker is, that if we 
have in us, and are obedient to, the indwelling 
Spirit, we may bear His fruit, and depend upon Him 
for all necessary power to overcome sin, and for any 
service to which we are called. Let me not be 
understood as questioning the need of being " filled 
with the Spirit." I simply do not regard it as 
necessary to put such strong emphasis on the 
knowledge of being filled. 

When God was here in the flesh, He was with 
His disciples. Now He is in His disciples, and will 
clothe them with all needed power, as the demand is 
made and the conditions are met. God's working 
in us is the operation about which we need to be 
concerned. We need to see that the freedom of the 
heart is fully granted unto Him, that we keep in 
loving, affectionate fellowship with Him, that we 
just let Him fill us as he sees the need. Rev. John 
MacNeil's illustration is a good one. He says : " In 
driving between Melbourne and my home I often 
stop at a wayside trough to give the horse a 
drink. I notice that the trough is quite full of 
water, and that there is a box in one end of it. As 
the horse drinks, the water is lowering, and presently 
I hear a sound as of a running tap. Yes, the sound 
is coming from the box. Within it there is a tap 



44 SPIRITUAL EQUIPMENT. 

connected by pipes with the Yan Yean Reservoir 
up in the Plenty Ranges. Attached by a lever to 
the tap is a metal ball, which rests on the surface of 
the water. As the horse drinks, the water on which 
the ball is floating is lowered, and thus the ball is 
lowered ; the lowering of the ball opens the tap and 
the Yan Yean begins to pour in, the trough is 
'being filled,' so that it is always 'full." The fill- 
ing is according to the demand. " The Holy Ghost, 
whom God hath given to them that obey Him," 
" shall supply all our need according to His riches 
in glory in Christ Jesus." 



TRAINING. 



" Give diligence to present thyself approved unto God, a work- 
man that needeth not to be ashamed, handling aright the word of 
God." 



1 Surely Thou hast some work for me to do, 
Oh ! open Thou mine eyes 
To see how Thou wouldst have it done, 
And where it lies ! " 



John xv. 15. II. Tim. i. 16. 

John xvii. 6. II. Tim. iii. 21. 

I. Cor. xiv. 12. II. Tim. iii. 14-17. 

II. Tim. ii. 15. 



IV. — TRAINING. 

One of the oldest schools in the history of the 
Church was the one inaugurated by Jesus of Naz- 
areth when He invited men to follow Him, that He 
might make them to be " fishers of men." 

Whilst efficiency for any work may be acquired 
through the doing of it, one who has been wisely 
instructed in the theory, before entering upon its 
practice, has marked advantages over an unschooled 
person. The years Christ spent with His disciples 
were years of training for them. He had a great 
passion for personal work, as well as for the souls of 
men. He taught His disciples by precept and ex- 
ample. The theory of any system is simplified if 
the pupil may witness its exemplification. This has 
been one of the characteristics of the training class 
system projected and fostered by the International 
Committee of the Young Men's Christian Associa- 
tions. It is most gratifying to all persons interested 
in the development of a more aggressive type of 
Christian life to witness the large number of young 
men who in college and city association have availed 
themselves of these privileges, and who through 
the training thus afforded are rendering more 
efficient service in the constantly enlarging field of 



48 TRAINING. 

Christian activity, and are become more valuable as 
members of their respective churches. 

The object of this training is to acquire a better 
knowledge of the Scriptures with reference to their 
application in the prosecution of personal work, and 
to learn from the discussion of the use of such 
Scriptures how to meet the difficulties -and objec- 
tions so commonly found in dealing with individuals. 
The class system referred to, and the formation 
of one or more such classes in every Christian 
organization, cannot be too strongly recommended. 
It would materially strengthen the work of the 
young people's societies, and add greatly to the 
efficiency of their members, if some such method 
were intelligently employed and persistently con- 
tinued. The following suggestions are made as a 
basis for organized study ; and in the appendix special 
" helps " are mentioned for its further development. 

I. COMPOSITION OF THE CLASS. 

The class should not be a large one, and it should 
be composed exclusively of men or exclusively of 
women. Six or eight persons are sufficient ; and 
if twelve or more desire to enter upon the 
study, it were better to have several classes limited 
to six members each. A small class is recom- 
mended in order that ample time may be given to 
discussion, and that each member may have the 
most favorable opportunity to ask questions and 
make suggestions. " The classes which have achieved 



TRAINING. 49 

the greatest success are those the members of which 
have made and kept the following mutual agreement : 
(a) That they will engage in actual personal work, 
or, at least, make honest and persistent efforts to do 
so. (b) That they will give the equivalent of at 
least twenty minutes each day to preparation of the 
lesson, (c) That, unless providentially detained, they 
will attend the class regularly and be there on time/' 

II. THE LEADER. 

The leader should be competent to teach, and 
must have the respect and confidence of each mem- 
ber of the class. He should be familiar with the 
Scriptures, and be doing personal work, thus stimu- 
lating the members of his class by his example. 
He should possess a knowledge of men, and be able 
to devise plans for the prosecution of personal work, 
and should secure the cooperation of the class in 
perfecting his plans. Though he becomes the leader 
by virtue of his enlisting persons in the study of the 
subject, or by appointment, his position should be 
ratified by a formal vote of the class. 

III. MEMBERS. 

Each member of a training class should be a 
Christian, connected by membership with some evan- 
gelical cJiurch. He must have a desire to win men 
to Christ, and must be self-sacrificing, for this may 
often be necessary for the accomplishment of the 



50 TRAINING. 

object for which the class is organized. He must 
have a sense of the importance of the work pro- 
posed, and a firm conviction that the Bible is the 
word or God, and that the Gospel " is the power of 
God unto salvation to every one that believeth." 

Too great care cannot be exercised in the compo- 
sition of the class, for its sole object is to study the 
Scriptures and discuss methods of work with refer- 
ence to winning men, one by one, to Jesus Christ, 
and to strengthen character in those already won. If 
the class is composed of college students, represen- 
tatives from each of the college grades is desirable, 
unless it be practicable to have four or more mem- 
bers of each grade organize separately. 

IV. CONDUCT OF THE CLASS. 

Place of meeting. If in college, use a student's 
room in dormitory or boarding house. If in a 
Young Men's Christian Association, use a quiet 
room in the building. If in connection with the 
young people's society of the church, use the resi- 
dence of some member of the class. 

Time of meeting. Aim to find the most favorable 
time, as well as the most favorable place, for the 
meeting. Hold the meetings not less frequently 
than once in two weeks, once every week if possible. 
Do not consume more time in each session than 
forty-five minutes. 

Procedure. Begin promptly, with a brief and 
direct petition to God for guidance and spiritual 



TRAINING. 51 

discernment. Study the Scriptures with special 
reference to persons who have backslidden, and to 
those who have not yet accepted Christ. Hold the 
class to the topic under consideration. Avoid ob- 
scure texts of Scripture, and under no consideration 
permit the discussion of disputed questions or doc- 
trines which have already divided the Church into 
so many denominations. In considering any special 
case of personal work, either from Scripture or from 
actual experience, let one member give the result of 
his study or work upon it since the last meeting. 
Let this be thoroughly discussed, and, so far as pos- 
sible, have conclusions preserved by the members in 
their note-books. 

* Difficulties likely to be encountered in the conduct 
of the class. 

(i) "The members do not attend regularly." 
Show them that only by regular attendance can they 
insure the success of the class, and that only in this 
way can they grasp the unity of the series of topics 
and appreciate the genius of this method. If a 
member stays away without a good excuse, let some 
other person have his place. 

(2) "The members do not come on time/' The 
best way to overcome this fault is for the leader 
always to begin and close on time. Some have 
found an advantage in closing the door at the time 
the class begins work. A person who is habitually 



* From this point to the eighth paragraph on page 54 I have quoted from the 
Mott and Ober pamphlet on '* Personal Work : How Organized and Accomplished." 



52 TRAINING. 

late will hinder others in their work, and if, after 
being dealt with kindly, the habit is not corrected, 
he should be requested to give his place to some one 
else. 

(3) " Some members say they do not have time 
to prepare. ,, Many hints might be given in connec- 
tion with this most common and least reasonable 
excuse, but the following, when conscientiously 
followed, have been found sufficient to remove the 
difficulty. First, suggest to them that a man gen- 
erally finds time for the thing in which he is 
specially interested. Have them make a written 
schedule accounting for their entire time, and see if 
they cannot find at least twenty minutes a day on an 
average to devote to this important purpose. 
Secondly, urge them to make the test of putting 
their Bible study the first thing in the day, and 
making everything else bend to it. 

(4) "The lesson cannot be covered in the re- 
quired time. ,, The leader should keep the reins of 
the class in his own hands. He should absolutely 
insist on asking all the questions himself during the 
larger part of the hour, leaving a few moments at 
the close for questions from others. As the art of 
asking questions properly is a difficult one, it should 
receive special thought on the part of the leader. 
This will help him to get more quickly at the heart 
of the subject, and thus save the time of the class. 
Do not wait too long for answers to questions. 
Help the class when necessary, by furnishing them 



TRAINING. 53 

subdivisions on difficult topics and suggestive pas- 
sages of Scripture. If necessary, take two or more 
sessions for the topic, though a special effort should 
usually be made to cover it within the required time. 

(5) "Debates arise in the class." Whenever 
they are conducted in a wrong spirit, or lead away 
from the point under consideration, or are too pro- 
longed, the leader should exercise his authority and 
put a stop to them. If any member causes par- 
ticular trouble in this respect, speak to him privately 
about it. Above all things, conduct the class in a 
prayerful spirit. Begin with prayer ; close with 
prayer ; frequently call for special prayer ; be instant 
in prayer, as building for eternity. 

(6) Some members will not do personal work." 
As has already been emphasized, assign them defi- 
nite work to do, and give them points on how to do 
it. Pray with them about this work, and encourage 
them in what they try to do. The leader should be 
sure to set the example himself. If, after tactful and 
faithful effort on the part of the leader, a member 
should still fail to engage in personal work, he should 
be requested to yield his place in the class. In 
season and out of season, it must be emphasized and 
reiterated, that the only way to learn how to do 
personal work is by doing it. 

(7) "I cannot lead the class." Make a conscien- 
tious trial before you give it up. Remember that 
one great object of this plan is to develop leaders. 
If after such a trial you are convinced that some 



54 TRAINING. 

other available man can do better, have the grace to 
step down in his favor. 

BIBLE DRILL. 

Have Bibles and notebooks closed. 

Take up each point of the topic, calling upon some 
member to repeat the passage from the Bible which 
will most clearly establish it. 

Let another member give the exact location of the 
passage quoted, mentioning book, chapter, and verse, 
and, where necessary, showing its meaning in con- 
nection with the context. The real cases should be 
reviewed in the same way as the topics. 

Require ready answers. 

Insist on exact quotations. 

The object of this Bible drill is to cultivate 
accuracy and readiness in the use of the Scriptures. 
Every successful personal worker must have these 
qualities, — must be ready for emergencies. 

Care should be exercised that this drill may not 
become mechanical, but rather that it be conducted 
in the thoughtful and reverent spirit. 

Enforce upon each member the necessity of 
watching for favorable conditions for approaching 
persons ; not to hurry, but at the same time not to 
lose the opportunity when afforded. The pledging 
of members to see some one each day and present 
the matter of personal religion is not advisable, the 
tendency being to make the work perfunctory, 
if done at all under such pressure. It is likely to 



TRAINING. 55 

do harm to both persons concerned in the trans- 
action. Every member of a training class for per- 
sonal work should be sufficiently interested in the 
spiritual welfare of others not to neglect any reason- 
able opportunity to invite their attention to the 
claims of the Gospel. 

Let there be a mutual understanding that the dis- 
cussions of actual cases known to the class be re- 
garded and held strictly confidential. In fact, it 
were better not to discuss with persons outside the 
work of the class. 

Before dismissing, engage in prayer for any spe- 
cial cases under consideration, and for each other, 
that each member may be faithful to his trust. 
Live a life above reproach, and "be an example to 
them that believe, in word, in manner of life, in 
love, in faith, in purity," and that by the blessing of 
Him whom we serve, each may become successful 
"fishers of men." 



METHODS. 



" The secret of power in personal work is the wise use of ' the 
sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God/ " 



Gen. xxi. 16-18. 
I. Kings xiii. 6. 
Luke viii. 4. 
John i. 35-46. 
Acts viii. 29-39. 
James v. 15, 16. 



Num. xiv. 19, 20. 
Matt, xviii. 15. 
Luke xxii. 31, 32. 
John iv. 6-15, 
Acts xxviii. 8. 
Rev. xxii. 17. 









See methods employed by Jesus and His disciples. 



V.— METHODS. 

The consideration of methods of doing personal 
work is a practical as it is an important part of the 
general subject. Since men are so different one 
from another, and the moods common to each indi- 
vidual so diverse, one cannot be expected to formu- 
late a set of rules which, if observed, would prove 
equally effective, or even operative, in every case. 
Good judgment is necessary, in order that the best 
method may be devised and the most favorable con- 
dition discovered for its application. 

The method of approach is of first importance. 
Ordinarily the case is lost or won in the way by 
which we approach a person. Of course God can 
overrule our blunders, and He may make our awk- 
wardness serve His purpose. It were " better for 
the pot to boil over than not to boil at all." It is 
a mistake for us to wait until we feel confident of 
our ability to make the needed advance with unqual- 
ified acceptance. I have sometimes said that there 
are as many avenues of approach to men's hearts 
as there are men to approach. The wise worker 
will choose and use the way most likely to admit 
him into the confidence of the person approached. 
The need of naturalness cannot be too strongly em- 
phasized. A mechanical effort to do personal work 



60 METHODS. 

is readily detected, and is always to be deprecated. 
No work requires more serious reflection and honest 
intention. Earnestness, real, genuine earnestness, 
frequently carries with it the power of conviction. 
One should avoid being transparently eager, but 
need not fear revealing his purpose. Make no 
apology for having come on your errand. Find 
some common ground for introductory conversation, 
and let it lead up to the object in mind. 

The following incident will illustrate the worth of 
the above suggestion : A friend of the Young Men's 
Christian Association, desiring to assist in a con- 
certed effort to cancel the indebtedness of the Asso- 
ciation, determined to ask a contribution from one 
of the wealthiest men in the community, who was 
supposed to be unfavorably inclined toward such 
institutions. This man had in his residence a very 
fine collection of paintings of which he was justly 
proud, and nothing gave him more delight than to 
hear people praise his pictures. The friend of the 
Association sought an opportunity to see the pic- 
tures when the gentleman was not at home, and, 
calling at his office later in the day, expressed his 
thanks and gratification for having had an oppor- 
tunity to see the paintings, and spoke particularly 
of the unusual merit which he had found in some 
of them. There was no difficulty now to keep up 
the conversation, and the two were soon talking as 
if they were old acquaintances. The caller's sug- 
gestion that a good picture would be of service to 



METHODS. 61 

the community if put occasionally in the way of 
young men who, ordinarily, had no convenient op- 
portunity to see works of art, met a favorable 
response from his host ; and the further suggestion 
that the rooms of the Christian Association afforded 
an opportunity for such a kindness led him to make 
special inquiry about the work and condition of that 
organization. At the conclusion of an hour's con- 
versation the caller came away with a subscription 
of three hundred dollars. 

Let us now consider the method of dealing with 
a person after access has been secured. I wonder 
if Andrew, in finding his own brother, did not do 
more than merely ascertain his whereabouts ! To 
find a person may be unattended with any serious 
difficulty, but to ascertain the person's attitude 
toward Jesus and His teachings, to get him to ex- 
press his views religiously, requires sagacity and 
skill, and calls for the nicest exercise of these 
qualities. 

Having made a favorable impression, and being 
encouraged to advance, how shall one proceed ? 
This depends on the condition in which the person 
has been found. If he does not regard the Bible 
as divine, — as the word of God, — and the worker 
fails to convince him of this fact, it is doubtful if 
any real progress can be made. The Bible is the 
authority on all questions pertaining to the spiritual 
and eternal needs of men. There is no other book 
to which we can go. There are many external proofs 



62 METHODS. 

that the Bible is of divine origin : the fulfilment 
of the prophetic history of the Jews is proof ; the 
birth, death, and resurrection of Christ is proof. 
The internal proofs are abundant, convincing, and 
conclusive. The code of morals contained in the 
Bible is so different from what man would devise 
that it could not have originated with man. The 
plan or way of salvation revealed is above the in- 
vention of human nature. Over and over again do 
we find the messages of the Bible prefaced with 
"Thus saith the Lord," "Hear the word of the 
Lord," "The word which came from the Lord." 
" This claim is confirmed by the holiness of the doc- 
trine they taught and its spiritual power." And, as 
Dr. Spencer has said : " The religious system of the 
Bible is in all its parts absolutely perfect. I affirm 
this on the ground that no human reason can point 
out the least defect. It has told everything rightly. 
Men have misunderstood it sometimes ; the human 
heart has often recoiled from its enjoined humility, 
gentleness, forgiveness of enemies, and so on ; but 
it is an amazing truth, after all, that the Bible sys- 
tem is a perfect system. This is full evidence that 
its authors were not mere unaided men, but were 
inspired of God. For what else is there among all 
human things which wears the stamp of absolute 
perfection ? It is impossible for any reasonable man 
to believe, if he is unprejudiced, that a set of men 
should have been able, through their unassisted 
abilities, to form a perfect system of doctrines and 



METHODS. 63 

duties, ranging from the infinitudes of God down to 
the various duties and inmost heart of man. If 
men have done this, it is a greater miracle than any 
one recorded in the Bible. Such men must have 
been something more than men." * The statement 
made by Jesus, in John vii. 17, might be used with 
profit at this point : " If any man willeth to do His 
will, he shall know of the teaching, whether it be 
of God, or whether I speak of myself.' ' 

And now, if the further declaration is made that 
Jesus is nothing more than a good man, and is there- 
fore not infallible, some such procedure as the fol- 
lowing would probably facilitate matters : " What is 
your own honest opinion of Jesus of Nazareth ? 
Whilst He lived among men and mingled with them 
and loved them, was He not apart from and above 
all men ? Was He not, is He not, the unique char- 
acter in all the world ? Is not His resurrection from 
the dead as well authenticated as any ancient his- 
toric fact ? How will you account for Him ? " Press 
the person to say what he really believes, and care- 
fully note what it is, and then have Scripture to 
apply as the need is presented ; as, for instance, 
should the person say, " You are urging me to be- 
lieve, and yet I must believe what I cannot see, 
relying simply on the testimony of some man or 
men whom I do not know, and I have no way of 
knowing that they were not mistaken," refer him to 



*" Evidences of Divine Revelation," by Dr. Ichabod S. Spencer, published 
by The American Tract Society ; which will be helpful in the study of this subject. 



64 METHODS, 

I. John v. 6-12, John xx. 29, I. Peter i. 8, 9, using 
as much Scripture, or as little, as the case, in your 
judgment, may require. A reasonably good knowl- 
edge of the Bible will enable the worker to command 
and apply such verses as will be most applicable, 
and thus, using God's word, He may be relied upon 
to make your work effective. Expect to lead the 
person, but do not be discouraged if you fail to con- 
vince him of the truth. The truth may come 
through the head, but the heart must appropriate it. 
" With the heart man believeth unto righteousness. ,, 
As Pascal expresses it : " The heart has reasons which 
the reason does not know. It is the heart that feels 
God, not the reason. There are truths that are felt, 
and there are truths that are proved ; for we know 
truth, not only by the reason, but by that intuitive 
conviction which may be called the heart. The pri- 
mary truths are not demonstrable, and yet our knowl- 
edge of them is none the less certain. Principles 
are felt ; propositions are proved. Truths may be 
above reason, and yet not be contrary to reason." 

THE INVITATION METHOD. 

This method applies more particularly to securing 
attendance at religious meetings, or to bringing per- 
sons in contact with leaders who are specially fitted 
to instruct them. The first may be done by verbal 
solicitation, or by the distribution of cards of an- 
nouncement or invitation. There can be no diffi- 
culty in doing this phase of personal work except 



METHODS. 65 

from natural diffidence or reticence. The attend- 
ance at all the meetings of our religious organiza- 
tions would be greatly enlarged, and the member- 
ship of the organizations be increased and strength- 
ened, if this simple method of personal work were 
kept in operation. A young man who had nearly 
completed his college course had become a victim of 
pernicious habits, and was leading a profligate life. 
Bent on self-destruction, he was one day hurrying 
along one of the crowded thoroughfares of Chicago, 
when a member of the Young Men's Christian Asso- 
ciation handed him a card of invitation to a " Gospel 
Meeting," simply saying, " Good music, better come 
around." This little incident — it was not an accident 
— diverted his attention from the crime on which his 
mind was bent. It turned bis steps into the place of 
prayer. The cordial greeting he received on enter- 
ing the building touched his heart. The discourse 
appealed to his reason. The Spirit of God arrested 
him. He tarried and went into the inquiry meeting, 
and then and there accepted Jesus as his Saviour. 

It will sometimes happen that you will find a per- 
son to be desirous of information which you are 
unable to give, and you will then seek to bring him 
in touch with a worker competent to give the needed 
instruction. Be sure, in such a case, that the 
worker to whom you take the person is really com- 
petent. Your pastor, the general secretary of the 
Young Men's Christian Association, or the pastor 
in the denomination for which the inquirer has 



66 METHODS. 

expressed a preference, ought to be thoroughly com- 
petent, and either of these would be the one to 
whom you would most naturally turn at such a time. 

THE CORRESPONDENCE METHOD. 

A brief letter expressing genuine concern for 
the spiritual condition and need of the person 
addressed, with a carefully chosen verse or two of 
Scripture, may be used without the slightest impro- 
priety. This may be accompanied with the state- 
ment (though it would be better to make such 
statement later) that you would like to offer a few 
suggestions as to the remedy for his need. In using 
Scripture texts in correspondence, write them out in 
full, in a legible hand, and give chapter and verse. 

Occasionally a tract selected with special reference 
to the person's known condition maybe used in con- 
nection with a letter. Write over your own signa- 
ture, and enclose a stamped envelope for reply. 

THE PRAYER METHOD. 

Too strong emphasis cannot be laid on the impor- 
tance and necessity of prayer in connection with 
every phase of personal work. 

" More things are wrought by prayer 
Than this world dreams of. Wherefore, let thy voice 
Rise like a fountain for me night and day. 
For what are men better than sheep or goats 
That nourish a blind life within the brain, 
If, knowing God, they lift not hands of prayer 
Both for themselves and those who call them friend? 
For so the whole round world is every way 
Bound by gold chains about the feet of God." 



METHODS. 67 

The prayer method can be employed when access 
has been denied, or when the individual is beyond 
our reach. He may be acquainted with our purpose 
or not, according to circumstances. It is as well 
at some period of our active prayerful interest to let 
the subject of our prayers know that we are thus 
engaged in his behalf. A godly woman, an invalid, 
said to her husband as he was leaving her bedside, 
" I've been praying for you, my dear, for many years. 
When my prayer is answered my cup of joy will be 
full." Her words proved the winged arrow that 
touched his heart. There was no longer waiting for 
the answer. 

Prayer for the conversion of individuals may be 
engaged in alone, or with one or more interested 
friends, or with the individual prayed for. 

(a.) Alone : as the mother prays for her son when 
all others have given him up ; as the commercial 
traveler prayed for the writer when the writer's 
name had been put on his "prayer list"; as Sir 
George Williams, when a boy, prayed for his em- 
ployer, who discovered him in the quiet of his room, 
and heard him pouring out his heart to God in his 
behalf. 

(b. ) Prayer in little groups for special cases. This 
method is common among Christian college students, 
and has proved effective in many instances. There 
would be little difficulty in employing this method 
in any community. The young people's societies 
of the churches could use it to good advantage. 



68 METHODS. 

Its employment in Yale University is referred to 
in " A Yale Reminiscence," by A. A. Stagg, in the 
February number of The Intercollegian : " When 
we started our personal work groups at Yale in 
1890, we made a definite effort to support the Chris- 
tian life of certain men, who were getting under the 
influence of the ' jolly fellows,' and with a measure 
of success. We also took steps to surround the lives 
of others, who were somewhat weak, with such help- 
ful influences as we were able. We went still fur- 
ther, and tried to arouse the indifferent, to smooth 
the path of the skeptical, and to bring one and all 
into close relationship with Christ. In the conduct 
of our personal work by the group system we found 
that a short meeting of the group daily was most 
helpful and stimulating. These meetings were most 
useful when most spiritual, for they often furnished 
the motive power for the doing of hard things. The 
best preparation for doing personal work is, first, to 
be filled with a sympathetic sense of some person's 
need ; and, second, to be overpowered with the 
thought that you are the one to help him. Looking 
back on my college days from a perspective of ten 
years, I have only one regret, — not of wasted hours, 
not of slighted studies, not of lost opportunities for 
Yale learning, — but only that I might have saved 
the lives of two classmates, who went in dishonor to 
their graves." 

(c.) Prayer with the individual whose conversion 
is desired. This would of necessity be with his 



METHODS. 69 

consent. It would be well if he could be prevailed 
on to join in prayer, either to repeat the prayer with 
you or pray for himself. 

In concluding this chapter, I desire to offer a few 
hints concerning the application of methods ; for, 
after all, there is probably more in the mode of 
application than in the method itself. 

i. Work, as a rule, with persons of your own age, 
or younger, and with persons of your own sex. 

2. Seek an opportunity to converse with the per- 
son alone. 

3. Use the Bible. You may quote Scripture 
texts if you can do it accurately ; but ordinarily it is 
better to have the person you are trying to lead into 
the way read aloud the verse you suggest, and wait 
for some expression of his opinion on it. Few pas- 
sages, wisely selected, may be better than many, 
because the few are less likely to confuse. 

4. Avoid controverted questions of minor impor- 
tance, and as far as possible avoid argument. Dis- 
cussion is not the remedy for sin. If you lay down 
a proposition, however, be ready to prove it. If 
you state a principle, be sure you feel it ; and since 
such a feeling is born of experience, pray God that 
He will beget in your friend a similar experience. 

5. Do not be drawn by an unconverted person 
into a discussion of the amusement question. Pre- 
sent Christ as the needed help in the solution of 
all questions. A very dear friend of the writer's 
once suggested to him that he could not become a 



70 



METHODS. 



Christian unless he discontinued the use of ale as a 
beverage. This became a convenient excuse for not 
accepting Christ, until another friend suggested 
that the will be surrendered to God, and the ale 
question be settled afterward. This put the same 
truth in a little different light. Since yielding my 
heart to Christ I have never used ale. 

6. Whether your work necessitates few or many 
calls, involves few or many interviews, be patient ; 
do not hurry. More men are won by siege than by 
attack. Keep sweet; and in all your effort aim to 
bring the individual to a definite commitment of 
himself to the Lord Jesus Christ. Your own method, 
if prayerfully applied, is more likely to be successful 
than some method suggested by another. 

7. If the person with whom you have gained 
an audience claims to be an infidel or an agnostic, 
and declares he has no interest in these higher 
things, you have probably gone as far as you can go, 
unless you are led to pray for him and thus carry 
him in your heart. 

8. Make a note of each case that comes to your 
attention, in a book specially provided for the pur- 
pose, with full comment on the details of conversa- 
tion, so that you may refer to it as you continue to 
study to win men to Christ. 



ILLUSTRATIONS FROM 
SCRIPTURE. 



"And the messenger that went to call Micaiah spake unto him, 
saying, Behold now, the words of the prophets declare good unto 
the king with one mouth : let thy word, I pray thee, be like the 
word of one of them, and speak thou good. And Micaiah said, As 
the Lord liveth, what the Lord saith unto me, that will I speak." 

"Again on the morrow John was standing, and two of his disci- 
ples ; and he looked upon Jesus as He walked, and saith, Behold 
the Lamb of God ! And the two disciples heard him speak, and 
they followed Jesus." 



The following references are but a few of the 
many gathered from the experiences of our Lord 
and His apostles. With these as a basis, it would 
be most helpful to the reader if he should study 
the New Testament with reference to its bearing on 
personal work. 



Matt. xix. 16-22. 
Mark ix. 14-29. 
John i. 29-51. 
John iv. 1-30. 
John xxi. 15-17. 
Acts viii. 26-39. 



Mark i. 40-45. 
Mark x. 46-52. 
John iii. 1-21. 
John v. 1-9. 
Acts iii. 1-8. 
Acts. x. 7, 8. 






VI.— ILLUSTRATIONS FROM 
SCRIPTURE.* 

The following illustrations will show the methods 
Jesus used in some of His personal interviews. If 
these and other examples found in the New Testa- 
ment are carefully studied, they will prove instruct- 
ive in showing the adroitness with which Jesus 
approached men and the truth He applied in awaken- 
ing in them a sense of their own need and in win- 
ning them to Himself. 

Nicodemus. In this man we have a religionist, a 
nice observer of the law ; a teacher, an expounder 
of the law. He is neither a trifler nor a mocker, 
nor is he an agnostic. He believes in God, and 
believes that Jesus is a teacher come from God. 
He is a rationalist, thoughtful, timid, politic. He 
seeks an interview with this teacher whose signs 
and sayings had commanded his attention, and in 
coming to Him makes a very frank admission of his 
belief, but " in it is inconsistency, reservation, and 
mental timidity." Jesus puts to test his belief in 
Him as a teacher, and at the same time tells him 
that the thing of first importance to himself is not 

* These illustrations are adapted from "Conversations of Jesus Christ," by 
Rev. William Adams, D. D. 



74 ILLUSTRATIONS FROM SCRIPTURE. 

Christ's kingdom, but his own relation to that king- 
dom. "The kingdom of God which He came to 
establish is not external, but interior and spiritual, 
consisting of gracious dispositions, of love, and joy- 
in the Holy Ghost ; and if one is to share in it at 
all, he must be brought into affinity with it by a 
change in himself." And then, in the most natural 
way, with consummate adroitness, He directs his 
attention to a matter where reason finds its limit 
without the solution of the problem — birth. " Ye 
must be born again." And, using that most ad- 
mirable analogy of the wind, He shows how it 
is invisible, and yet how evident are its results : 
"The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest 
the voice thereof, but knowest not whence it cometh 
and whither it goeth : so is every one that is born 
of the Spirit." This analogy, so simple, would help 
Nicodemus to exercise faith in the declaration and 
work of Him who came from God. But he repeats 
his question, How ? and thus exposes his unreason- 
ableness. Now Jesus, with masterful skill, avoiding 
controversy upon a subject the mystery of which 
cannot be revealed to the understanding, shows " the 
teacher of Israel " his inconsistency, and demands 
the exercise of faith as a logical result of his own 
premises. Reason has its boundary, and when this 
is reached, "faith is the continuation of reason." 
Jesus shows this not in explaining, or attempting to 
explain, the new birth, but by pressing upon the 
attention of Nicodemus the reasonableness of faith 



ILLUSTRATIONS FROM SCRIPTURE. 75 

through the analogy He used ; and throughout the 
conversation He held the man to this as his need. 
" It is not your knowing, your understanding, but 
your receiving in true faith what is affirmed by my- 
self, the Christ of God, commissioned and accredited 
to teach and redeem the world.' ' 

The Woman of Samaria. Faint and weary, our 
Lord, having come to Sychar, sat near the famous 
well. He was alone, His disciples having gone into 
the city to buy food. A woman of Samaria came 
to draw water from the well. How natural it was 
for this stranger to ask the Samaritan woman for a 
drink of water ! And yet it did not so seem to her, 
for Jesus was a Jew, — she had discovered this in 
His dress, — and the Jews had no dealings with the 
Samaritans. True, but this Jew would have deal- 
ings with all sects and nationalities and with all 
persons. There is no boundary within which the 
great gift of His love may be confined. There was 
the highest wisdom in the Master's method of ap- 
proach to this woman. His request had excited her 
interest in Him, a person whom she needed to know, 
and her exclamation of surprise gave Him the op- 
portunity to direct her attention to a spiritual gift, 
the need of which she had not yet recognized. " If 
thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that 
saith to thee, Give me to drink, thou wouldst have 
asked of him and he would have given thee living 
water." He has not come to seek and to talk with 
some one simply because He has pledged Himself 



76 ILLUSTRATIONS FROM SCRIPTURE. 

to do it, and therefore He has not approached this 
woman in a perfunctory way. How natural was the 
conversation ! Nothing mechanical about it. His 
great, sympathizing heart yearns for the heart of this 
obtuse sensualist. Jesus would make no discrimina- 
tion between persons to whom the water of life 
should be given. If He could make this woman 
see her need His heart would rejoice. Her mind 
was on water that slakes thirst only for a little while. 
She judged of everything by her senses. Jesus has 
no pitcher, no rope, nothing to draw with ; could 
He have access to water better than that in the 
well which Jacob gave, and could it be more easily 
secured ? And now to her querying mind He gives 
food for higher thought : " Every one that drinketh 
of this water shall thirst again : but whosoever 
drinketh of the water that I shall give* him shall 
never thirst ; but the water that I shall give him 
shall become in him a well of water springing up 
unto eternal life/' Still the poor woman could not 
see above her own bodily need. She catches the 
idea that perhaps this man may have water — literal 
water — that will prevent further thirst, and save 
her from her daily troublesome task; so she says, 
" Sir, give me this water, that I thirst not, neither 
come all the way hither to draw." Now she had 
asked a favor of Him. She had forgotten the dis- 
tinction between the Jews and the Samaritans. 
Jesus had dropped some seed thoughts into her 
mind that would germinate by and by. She was 



ILLUSTRATIONS FROM SCRIPTURE. 77 

slow to discern the import of His statements, but 
He was patient and tactful. Having aroused her 
curiosity, and awakened some desire in her for some- 
thing which He had to give, He changed His method 
of procedure. He would show her now to her- 
self. He would turn her thoughts, for the moment, 
away from water and from Himself to herself, to her 
own sinful life. He requests her to call her hus- 
band, and through this request shows her that He 
knows her life. At once she exclaims, " Sir, I per- 
ceive that thou art a prophet ! " In the words that 
followed she may have attempted to change the sub- 
ject, which doubtless to her was very unpleasant. 
If she did Jesus takes advantage of it, and teaches 
her that true religion is not external worship in this 
or that place or according to this or that form, but 
that it is the approach of the soul to God through 
Jesus Christ ; and He then declares, " I that speak 
unto thee am He." This awakens in her soul a 
different desire, a desire that she had never had 
until now; and, forgetting her water jar, her soul 
filled with wonder, her mind awakened and probably 
illumined with divine truth, she hastens into the 
city to tell the people about this wonderful stranger 
who had told her all the things that ever she 
did, and who, she had begun to believe, was the 
Christ. 

The Young Ruler. Here is a character the ex- 
act opposite of the one we have just been consider- 
ing. He has high social position, is wealthy and 



78 ILLUSTRATIONS FROM SCRIPTURE. 

refined. He regards eternal life as of the utmost 
importance, and will do anything necessary to secure 
it. He approaches Jesus reverently, and desires to 
know just what he needs to do. He is strictly cor- 
rect in every observance of the law, but recognizes 
the need of doing something else to perfect the 
process by which he would win this great prize. 
According to his definition of goodness, he is the 
pink of perfection. Mark the language employed 
in his request : " Good master, what good thing shall 
I do that I may inherit eternal life ? " He had been 
doing good things. He came not as a sinner, but 
as a righteous man, a man of exemplary character, 
unconscious of the need of any forgiveness, simply 
desiring this quality of life which he had not yet 
obtained. The Master was again skillful in this 
splendid illustration of personal work, in meeting 
this young man on the humanitarian plane, above 
which in all his doing he had not gotten. Jesus did 
not condemn his good works, nor did He expose 
his conceit. He would impress upon him the les- 
son he needed to learn, namely, that eternal life was 
not attained by doing good merely, but that it was 
in being. In this He touches the root of the matter 
and exposes the fallacy of this theory of goodness, 
and lifts the mind of this cultured young man to the 
lofty plane of divine perfection. But how discreetly 
the master advances ! He bids him " keep the com- 
mandments if he would enter into life." This is 
just what the moralist boasts himself of doing. 



ILLUSTRATIONS FROM SCRIPTURE. 79 

"He had abstained from every vice and immorality 
condemned in the decalogue," and so he admired 
himself in the mirror of the law. " In the con- 
sciousness of his untarnished morality, he puts the 
question, ' What lack I yet ? ' This won him the 
highest reward the moralist could win from the 
"good Master" — the look of love. Morality can 
secure the loving look of Christ, but it cannot secure 
eternal life. "What lack I yet ?" "Yet one thing 
thou lackest : not only one thing, but one thing thou 
lackest, as Dr. Adams suggests, and that is the 
whole. Good enough, admirable enough, so far as it 
goes ; measured on your humanitarian and visible 
plane is your law keeping ; but in the eye which 
reads the heart and inspects the invisible disposi- 
tions, there is a defect which vitiates the whole. 
You are utterly wanting in that love which is the 
keeping of the whole law." And now Jesus puts 
the test. He proves to him how far from perfection 
his goodness is. Legal obedience could not win 
eternal life, and so Jesus says, " If thou wouldst be 
perfect, go, sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, 
and thou shalt have treasure in heaven : and come, 
follow me." The real need of the young ruler was 
met only in Christ. To this conclusion all the con- 
versation converged. So must it always be with us 
in doing personal work. Whoever the person, what- 
ever the difficulties, however unfavorable the envi- 
ronment, we aim to center thought on Christ, and 
to yield obedience to His requirements. We may 



80 ILLUSTRATIONS FROM SCRIPTURE. 

reach the heart through the head, but we must 
reach and touch the heart. 

Peter, the Penitent Backslider. After his de- 
sertion of his friend and master, one would think 
Peter unworthy of recognition. " He must have felt 
an unusual heaviness at heart when he recalled his 
own perfidy and blasphemy and cowardice." This 
day of denial had not been long past. The risen 
Lord had seen and conversed with Peter. He 
named him specially among the disciples to whom 
He sent information concerning His resurrection. 
Peter was penitent, and doubtless longed for some 
token of forgiveness. He had gone back to his old 
occupation, and was fishing on this occasion with six 
of his fellow disciples. They had toiled all night 
and taken nothing. Day was breaking when a 
stranger hailed them from the shore with the words, 
" Children have ye aught to eat ? " The abrupt 
answer would indicate that Peter was the one to 
respond. The "No" was met with, "Cast the net 
on the right side of the boat, and ye shall find." 
" They cast therefore, and now they were not able 
to draw it for the multitude of fishes. ,, John was 
first to recognize Jesus, and he probably whispered 
to Peter, "It is the Lord." It was just like Peter, 
impetuous fellow that he was, to plunge into the sea 
and strike out for the shore in an attempt to meet 
first the master whom he had so ignominiously 
denied a little while ago. We do not know if any 
words passed between Jesus and Peter before the 



ILLUSTRATIONS FROM SCRIPTURE. 81 

ones recorded in John's account of this touching 
incident ; but it is more than likely that Peter with 
the rest of the disciples engaged in general conver- 
sation with the Lord. There was probably no refer- 
ence made to Peter's fall during the meal, but after 
dinner, in the presence of John, and maybe before 
the company, to enforce a lesson upon the mind of 
each one, Jesus put a probe into the heart of the 
penitent disciple. But how adroitly He did it, how 
gently He rebuked him ! It drew forth Peter's con- 
fession in the words, " Thou knowest that I love 
thee." Jesus did not doubt his love, but He knew 
that the poor fellow needed a reprimand for his self- 
confidence and boasting. This He would give, but 
without upbraiding. The allusion to his denial was 
made with the nicest delicacy, and though it grieved 
Peter to have the same question put to him three 
times, he cried from his heart, "Thou knowest all 
things, Thou knowest that I love Thee." Not more 
than the others, would he now say ; but he loved Him, 
and Jesus knew it. All doubt of his restoration was 
now dispelled. He was fully restored to favor, and 
commissioned to work ; and, as Jesus concluded with 
the words, " Follow me," he was given an immediate 
opportunity to prove his love. 



ILLUSTRATIONS FROM 
LIFE. 



VIII.— ILLUSTRATIONS FROM LIFE. 

In this chapter I may be permitted to relate an 
incident which has meant much in the life of the 
writer, and the publication of which has been often 
requested. It is a good illustration of the natural- 
ness and ease with which personal work can be done, 
and I trust its recital may prove an incentive to many 
to go and do likewise. 

Mr. E. R. Graves, the commercial traveler to 
whom this book is inscribed, was employed by a 
paper house in New York City, and sold the writer, 
who was then engaged in business, large quantities 
of wrapping paper and paper bags. The salesman 
had soon discovered that his customer was very sys- 
tematic, a stickler for order in everything about his 
establishment, and that he was particularly proud of 
his word. He boasted that his "word was as good 
as his bond " ; this, in fact, was his religion. 

One morning after mail had been examined, and 
matters requiring early attention had been disposed 
of, the proprietor, as was his custom, was about to 
join a few business friends for a ten o'clock glass of 
beer. The commercial traveler met the proprietor 
at the door. His familiar words were, " Open for 
anything in my line ? " " See you a little later ; am 



86 ILLUSTRATIONS FROM LIFE. 

just going to have a glass of beer with a few friends, 
won't you join us ? " " No, thank you/' was the polite 
reply, "I never drink." And then he added, "Just 
a moment please ; I have a little book I'd like to 
have you read. I buy them at my own expense, and 
am obliged, therefore, to be careful in their distribu- 
tion. Will you read it ? " His pleasant manner 
and frankness led the proprietor to say, " Yes, if it 
will do you any good." And he handed me a neatly 
printed tract on intemperance. He had gotten the 
promise of a man who was proud of his word, and I 
had gotten a tract which I had promised to read. 

Reaching the room where my friends were wait- 
ing for me, it required but a few minutes to ac- 
quaint them with my recent experience. With 
tract in hand and promise fresh in mind, I insisted 
on reading the little book then and there. There 
were but eight or ten pages ; they could be read 
hastily ; and with the beer on the table I proceeded 
to read aloud. Throwing the tract on the table and 
ordering more beer, we spent a little time in discuss- 
ing the " missionary," as we called him, and deter- 
mined on a line of argument with which to meet 
him on my return to the store. 

The salesman awaited my coming, received my 
order for goods, and, after a bit of general conversa- 
tion on business, he withdrew, without making the 
slightest reference to my habit or his tract. This 
was the first advance he had made, and it was suc- 
cessful. I felt a keen disappointment in not having 



ILLUSTRATIONS FROM LIFE. 87 

an opportunity to work my argument on him, but of 
course could not let him know it, and so pocketed 
my feelings, and he went his way. 

In due time he came again. This time we met 
on the street. After the usual inquiry about trade, 
he said, " By the way, when I was here last time I 
gave you a little book ; have you read it ? " " Why 
yes/' I replied, " read it the same day, and wondered 
why you didn't say something about it when I came 
back to the store." " Oh," he replied, "there was 
no necessity of saying anything ; I simply desired 
that you should read it." We had made an engage- 
ment for business later in the day, and before leav- 
ing me he said, " I don't want to bore you, but I 
have another little book which I wish you would 
read. It is on a different subject ; I am sure it won't 
do you any harm." I said, " The other one did me 
no good, and I doubt if this one will." His reply 
was that we read a good many books that do us little 
if any good, and that the ones he carried required 
but little time to run through. And then with his 
pleasant "good day," he shook my hand and said, 
" I'd like to have you read this one and tell me what 
you think of it." The request was so modestly 
made that I took the book and promised to tell him 
what I thought about it. 

I was more or less disturbed to find that the sub- 
ject of this tract was profanity. There it was in 
large block letters, profanity. And now I indulged 
in a sort of soliloquy after this fashion : " Queer chap ! 



88 ILLUSTRATIONS FROM LIFE. 

Wonder what he's driving at ! Has he heard me 
use profane language ? Rather impertinent sort of 
a fellow. It would be more gentlemanly for him not 
to meddle in my affairs. I wish I hadn't promised 
to read the thing/' However, I read the book, and 
with considerable interest, and found myself in hearty 
accord with the general tenor of its contents. But 
why should this man have such an interest in me ? 
What difference did it make to him whether I was 
given to this bad habit, or any other, or many habits ? 
I had a right to do as I pleased. His business 
was to sell goods to men who would pay their bills, 
and he had gone, it seemed to me, just a little be- 
yond the bounds of propriety in interfering with the 
private rights of his customer. 

The next time he came it was the busiest season 
of the year — about Christmas time. My order had 
been made out and was waiting for him, so that it 
required but a few minutes to place it. His request 
to have a word with me in private excited the sus- 
picion that his house had a special message for me, 
and I went into the private office with more or less 
of misgiving. There were no preliminary remarks. 
He just said, "My dear fellow, I've sold your father 
goods for a long time before I sold you, and through 
conversation with him I have come to know a good 
deal about your mother. She must have been a very 
godly woman. Only yesterday he was telling me 
about her death, and the great triumph of her faith." 
He had now touched the tenderest spot in my heart. 



ILLUSTRATIONS FROM LIFE. 89 

Any reference to my mother awakened the most 
affectionate memories. " Yes," I said, " I had one 
of the best mothers in the world/ ' Laying his hand 
on my shoulder, and looking me straight in the eyes, 
he said, " She was a praying woman. Do you be- 
lieve in prayer ? " My reply was, " Yes, but I do 
not pray." Whereupon he took from his pocket a 
little book, saying, " This is not another tract I want 
to inflict on you, but simply a memorandum book 
containing the names of business acquaintances who 
have given their consent for me to pray for them. 
Can I have your name on the same conditions ? " 
It was an unexpected turn in the conversation, but 
the request was so reasonable, and so unobjection- 
ably made, that without a moment's hesitation I con- 
sented, saying, " You can have my name ; you can 
put it down if it will do you any good." "I prefer 
to have you write it," said he ; "I want your auto- 
graph." With trembling hand I took the book. I 
noticed, on the page opposite the one on which I was 
to write, the names of several men, two or three of 
which were marked off. Presuming that he had 
wearied of praying for them, and feeling that some- 
how or other I had gotten into a trap, I hesitated 
and said, " What do you want to pray for me for ? " 
And then in the frankest possible manner, with the 
keenest interest depicted in his face, he said, " I 
want to ask God to make you a Christian." Having 
determined not to be a Christian, I said, " That's too 
big a contract for you to take. The fact is, I've 



90 ILLUSTRATIONS FROM LIFE. 

made up my mind not to be a Christian ; and, more- 
over, there are a good many things in connection 
with the whole business I cannot believe." He 
was too wise a worker to be drawn into argument 
at this point, and simply said, " If you'll give me 
your name, I'll be most happy to have it." I 
wrote my name, he took the book, put it back 
into his pocket, and then taking my hand, said, " I 
confidently expect my prayer to be answered," and 
bade me good-bye. 

The next time he came we were both eager to get 
to his room in the hotel. He had heard of my 
acceptance of the Lord Jesus Christ. Reaching his 
room, we bowed at the same chair, and, taking from 
his pocket his " Prayer List," he opened the book 
at the page on which my name was written, and, 
checking it off, we praised God, amidst tears of 
rejoicing, for another answered prayer. 

It was some time after this experience that this 
same man, under conviction that the writer ought to 
be engaged in some kind of Christian service, be- 
sought him to give up business and enter the Lord's 
work. It was under his persistent, but wise, effort, 
that I soon went to Lockport, N. Y., to inaugu- 
rate a temperance movement among the children. 
Through God's blessing, so successful was the under- 
taking that in six or eight weeks a temperance senti- 
ment was created that stirred the entire city. Hun- 
dreds of children signed the total abstinence pledge, 
and scores of drinking men and women were led to 



ILLUSTRATIONS FROM LIFE. 91 

abandon the cup, and were won io lives of sobriety. 
It was during my stay in Lockport that the work of 
the Young Men's Christian Association was brought 
to my attention, and, following what seemed to be 
the guidance of the Lord, I became General Secre- 
tary of the Association in that city. After two 
years, I accepted a like position in Syracuse, N. Y., 
and two years later became the Secretary of the 
State Committee of the Young Men's Christian As- 
sociations jof Massachusetts. 

It was during this latter term of service that I 
met Mr. C. K. Ober, a student in Williams College, 
and prevailed on him to prepare and read a paper 
before the Association State Convention. This re- 
sulted in Mr. Ober entering the work of the Asso- 
ciations. He in turn persuaded Mr. John R. Mott, 
of Cornell University, to enter Association work 
among students. In course of time Mr. Mott made 
his memorable journey around the world, organizing 
the World's Christian Student Federation. In the 
providence of God each of these men was depend- 
ent, to some extent, on another. The commercial 
traveler, Sayford, Ober, and Mott, followed the one 
after the other in natural sequence ; and this world 
encircling movement known as the Student Federa- 
tion was one of the ultimate results of that incident 
which occurred between the commercial traveler and 
his customer nearly thirty years before. 

The following extracts from letters of Mr. Ober 
have a place in the telling of the story, and will 



92 ILLUSTRATIONS FROM LIFE. 

serve to further illustrate the importance of per- 
sistent effort : — 

Mr. Ober says, in a letter to the author: " About 
your getting me into Association work, it was your 
remorseless persistency in compelling me to write 
the college paper for and attend the State Conven- 
tion at Spencer, in 1881. I had declined five times, 
and then you surprised me by sending me a Con- 
vention program containing my name for the service 
referred to. I was vexed at first, but it occurred to 
me that it might possibly be providential leading, 
and so I decided to comply. I am satisfied now 
that it was providential. The reading of my paper 
at the Convention attracted the attention of Mr. 
R. C. Morse, General Secretary of the International 
Committee, who was present. He reported it to 
Mr. McBurney, and they got Mr. Wishard two or 
three months later to visit Williams College and fol- 
low me up. On the strength of his report, I 
received a call to the assistant secretaryship in New 
York City with Mr. McBurney, and after six months 
with him you got me to join you in the State work 
in Massachusetts, and about six months later you 
slipped out and left me under the work/' 

Concerning the next link in the chain, Mr. Ober 
writes : "Mott was at Cornell in the spring of 1888, 
about to graduate. He had been at Mt. Hermon in 
1886, and had attended the New York State Con- 
ventions in the fall of 1887 and 1888. The 1888 
convention was held at Harlem, New York City, and 



ILLUSTRATIONS FROM LIFE. . 93 

at that time Morse, Wishard, and our chairman, Mr. 
Cephas Brainard, had dealt with him about becoming 
a College Secretary of the Committee with myself, as 
Mr. Wishard was about leaving for his four years' 
tour in foreign mission lands. I had recommended 
Mott to the Committee for their work, but when 
their official call reached him I was in some distant 
part of the country, and on my return to New York 
about a month later I learned that Mott had not 
given his answer, although I remember that both 
Morse and Wishard expressed to me their convic- 
tion that everything possible had been done to im- 
press him with the importance of this work, and to 
influence him to accept the call, and they were san- 
guine as to his acceptance. I felt otherwise, how- 
ever, and made a special trip to Cornell to get to 
the bottom of the matter with him. I found that he 
had practically decided not to accept the call, so I 
spent about two hours with him, meeting his objec- 
tions one by one, giving him an inside view of the 
life, the work and opportunities of a College Secre- 
tary, and putting the burden of proof upon him to 
show why he should not regard this opening as a 
direct call of God to a special work for which he 
was peculiarly qualified. Mott took careful notes of 
all the facts I gave him and the outlines of my argu- 
ment, and promised to consider them with earnest 
prayer. This was all : it was a case where the 
Spirit of God apparently was leading. I did not feel 
specially solicitous, but was satisfied to leave the 



94 ILLUSTRATIONS FROM LIFE. 

result with God and with Mott's conscience. Mott 
went to the train with me, and, stepping under an 
old shed by the depot, out of the rain, while the 
train on which I was to leave was approaching, we 
committed the whole matter to God in prayer. It 
was not a long prayer meeting, but the two of us 
who agreed there to ask the privilege of working 
together for God not only received the answer to 
our prayer, but have been able to agree ever since/ ' 

A COLLEGE INCIDENT. 

The following incident illustrates how compara- 
tively easy a difficult case may be won by depend- 
ence on God and the use of His word. 

In a prominent state university a brilliant young 
student, proud of his skeptical notions, and desirous 
that all his fellows should know of his determination 
not to become a Christian, came into my room at the 
hotel with a friend whose earnest and persistent 
solicitation could no longer be disregarded. On 
being introduced, the skeptical student said that 
he came simply to gratify his friend, and to meet 
me socially ; that he had no desire to argue any 
religious question, and on that point I could do him 
no good. 

Taking his hand, I said, " Perhaps I may not be 
able to do you any good, but I have a friend with 
me who can." 

"Why," said he, "I thought you traveled alone." 



ILLUSTRATIONS FROM LIFE. 95 

" No," I replied, " I never travel alone ; the Lord 
Jesus always goes with me ; and some of the stu- 
dents tell me you do not believe there is such a 
person." 

"The men are mistaken, sir," was the quick 
response. " I'm not a fool ; I believe in the historic 
character called Jesus of Nazareth." 

Whereupon I asked him where he got his infor- 
mation about this remarkable man, and when he told 
me from "sacred and profane history," I suggested 
that we turn to a copy of "sacred history" which I 
had with me, and see how far we agreed on certain 
prominent events in the life of Jesus. On my 
assuring him that I had no desire to draw him into 
argument, he consented. 

Opening the book and turning to John's Gospel, 
I read portions from the record of the Lord's suffer- 
ings in the week when he was crucified, and was 
surprised and rejoiced to find that we agreed per- 
fectly until we came to the account of His cruci- 
fixion. Here the young man saw that he was in 
danger of accepting the whole story, and with con- 
siderable animation said, "Mr. Sayford, you're set- 
ting a trap for me." 

" No," said I, " I am setting no trap, and we may 
discontinue our investigation at this point if you 
desire." 

But seeing that he was rather inclined to proceed, 
I asked, "Do you believe that he was crucified ? " 

He replied, "They say so." 



96 ILLUSTRATIONS FROM LIFE. 

"Who says so ? " was my further inquiry; and 
when he answered, "The writers," I pressed the 
question, " Do you believe what the writers say ? " 

"Yes," was the response, "but I do not believe 
in the resurrection." 

" Well," I replied, " what was done with the body ? " 

He repeated the account of the burial, the rolling 
of the stone against the mouth of the tomb, the 
sealing of the stone, and the placing of the guard. 
When I said, "Do you believe all this?" he replied, 
" If I'm honest and fair, I'll have to believe it, since 
I believe the other part of the record." 

Regarding the moment one of supreme importance, 
I lifted my heart to God in silent prayer and pressed 
home the vital question, " Do you believe in the res- 
urrection of Jesus Christ from the dead ? " 

Bursting into tears, the young student exclaimed : 
"Why, yes, I believe it all; but how is it that I 
believe ? What has produced this change in my 
position ? " 

There could be no other reply to his question 
than that the Holy Spirit had opened his mind, and, 
though he but faintly realized what that meant, it 
was the dawning of the light in his soul. We knelt 
in prayer of thanksgiving and in petition for further 
illumination and guidance. Then and there he ac- 
cepted Christ as his Saviour, and to-day he is pastor 
of a church in one of our largest cities, preaching 
the blessed Gospel with great acceptance and with 
good results. 



ILLUSTRATIONS FROM LIFE. 97 

In another institution there was a student who, 
having made choice of law for his profession, and 
being among the leaders in scholarship in the uni- 
versity, was dubbed " Judge" among his fellows. 
He was an avowed infidel or agnostic, fond of argu- 
ment ; and he generally got the best of the wordy 
discussions into which he frequently entered. 

At the suggestion of some of his friends, and with 
his consent, I met him for conversation, and, as is 
generally the case under such circumstances, found 
him well fortified with questions that I was unable 
to answer satisfactorily. Failing, apparently, to 
make the slightest impression, I concluded that he 
was one of a large class in every community who 
are obstinate and do not desire to be convinced of 
the truth, and hence a man upon whom it was not 
desirable to spend very much time. 

In the closing meeting of a brief series the " Judge " 
was present. The object of this meeting was to 
secure pledges for money with which to erect a build- 
ing for the college Young Men's Christian Asssocia- 
tion ; and to the surprise of us [all, this skeptical 
student made a contribution of one hundred dollars. 

While engaged in prayer as we were about to close 
the meeting, the suggestion came to me, Press the 
"Judge" for a decision now ; and, without debating 
the question of the wisdom or advisability of such a 
method, desiring above all else to obey what I be- 
lieved to be the voice of the Lord, I asked the men 
to tarry for just a few minutes, and, turning to the 



98 ILLUSTRATIONS FROM LIFE. 

unbeliever who is the subject of this sketch, I said : 
"Judge, your position concerning religion or Chris- 
tianity is well known here, and because of your 
views on the subject doubtless all of us are surprised 
at the contribution you offer for this Association 
enterprise. Having a conviction that I am obeying 
the voice of God, I want to ask you to make another 
contribution, alongside of which your hundred-dollar 
subscription will sink into insignificance. Will you 
give your heart to Jesus Christ ? " 

Humanly speaking, there was great impropriety in 
thus calling attention to an individual in a " students' 
meeting." Thoughtful, conservative men would 
call it absurd. But the audience sat spell bound, 
all criticism was disarmed, and in a moment the 
"Judge" sprang to his feet and exclaimed, "By the 
grace of God, I will ! " 

Coming from the meeting with me, he said : 
" That extraordinary action of yours convinces me of 
a higher power. I have no argument with which to 
meet it. I believe in Jesus as the Son of God." 

Thus did we find a most gratifying reward of 
obedience, learn the comparatively little worth of 
argument, and get a striking illustration of the text, 
" Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit, saith 
the Lord." 

A BUSINESS MAN'S TROPHY. 

At a State Convention of Young Men's Christian 
Associations, a young student from a prominent 



ILLUSTRATIONS FROM LIFE. 99 

New England college stood talking with a delegate. 
The college man was pointed out to Mr. H. M. 
Moore, of Boston, as a splendid fellow, captain of 
the foot-ball team in college, very popular, but not 
a Christian. Mr. Moore, always watchful for oppor- 
tunities to interest young men in the good news of 
the Gospel, was not long in finding favorable condi- 
tions for conversation with this young man. Ap- 
proaching him, he shook hands ; asked him what 
college he represented; how he was enjoying the 
Convention, etc.; and then said, "How long have 
you been a Christian ?" The young man hesitated, 
when Mr. Moore said, " Can't you quite say it ? " 
"No, I cannot," he replied. "Well, I'm sorry," 
said Mr. Moore ; " I think the religion of Jesus 
Christ the best thing a man can possess. Would 
you object to telling me just what you think about 
it ? Be frank, and if you don't believe in it, say so." 
"Well," he replied, "I believe it is a good thing." 
"Don't you want all the good things there are?" 
" I suppose so," the student answered smiling. 
Asking for, and receiving his name, Mr. Moore said, 
"I don't want to bore you on the subject, — that is 
a poor way to help a man into the kingdom, — but I 
am interested in you. Let me ask you if the eternal 
destiny of one's soul is not worth serious thought." 
" Yes, sir," was his instant reply. " Well, will you 
calmly and intelligently give such thought to your 
own condition?" "I will," he said. And then, as 
Mr. Moore bade him good-day, he invited him to the 



100 ILLUSTRATIONS FROM LIFE. 

farewell meeting of the Convention, and asked if he 
would remain to the close of the meeting and come 
up to bid him good-bye. The student acceded to 
this request. 

At the close of the farewell meeting he made 
good his promise. Mr. Moore thanked him for com- 
ing, and suggested that his influence among his fel- 
lows in college might be used for the glory of God if 
only he were a Christian, and then and there pressed 
him to accept Jesus Christ as his Saviour. The 
young man would not yield, though he confessed he 
was deeply interested, but said, " I cannot to-night." 
" Well/' said Mr. Moore, " I must bid you good- 
night. I wish you knew the blessed rest in Christ. 
I'll keep you on my heart. By the way, have you a 
piece of paper." He took a piece from his pocket 
and handed it to Mr. Moore, who simply wrote his 
name on it, with his business address, and handing 
it back to the young man, said : " There is my ad- 
dress. When you are converted, will you write me 
and let me know it?" The student promised he 
would, and they parted. 

About four weeks later Mr. Moore received a let- 
ter from him, in which he said : u I might have 
written two or three weeks ago, but I wanted to test 
myself and know that I was His. The matter is 
settled now. I mean to live a pronounced Christian 
life in college." Later Mr. Moore sent him a book, 
and wrote him, congratulating him on his manly 
course, and exhorting him ever to be true to the 



ILLUSTRATIONS FROM LIFE. 101 

Lord Jesus. What a blessing could many other 
Christian business men be to young men if they 
were alert for opportunities for such work ! 

a pastor's experience. 

In visiting among my people one morning, a lady 
informed me that a physician in the village, with 
whom I had some acquaintance, was confined to his 
room by a severe cold, and his friends had some 
apprehensions that it might result in his death. I 
immediately went to his room to see him, and found 
him on his bed. He assured me that he had no 
apprehensions of any other serious effects from his 
present indisposition than confinement from his busi- 
ness for a few weeks. He said he was taken with 
an inflammation of the lungs, and had used such 
thorough means to reduce it that it had left him 
very weak, but he thought he should soon recover. 

After conversing with him upon the general sub- 
ject of religion, I requested him to take the tenth 
chapter of Romans, amd study it as he would a med- 
ical book, and give me his opinion of its meaning 
when I called again. 

The second time I called, as soon as I was seated, 
he said to me, " I cannot understand that chapter you 
gave me to study when you were here last." 

"What part of it, doctor, don't you understand?" 

" That part that says, ' If we will confess with our 
mouth the Lord Jesus, and believe with our heart that 
God raised him from the dead, we shall be saved.' ' 



102 ILLUSTRATIONS FROM LIFE. 

" Why, my dear sir, there is no hidden meaning 
to that passage ; it tells us a simple truth, and must 
be understood just like any other plain declaration." 

"What then is it to believe with the heart ? " 

This I illustrated by telling him that if his wife 
were in New York, and a man of established reputa- 
tion should come from that city and inform him that 
she lay at the point of death, he would be immedi- 
ately convinced of the truth of the message, while 
his heart would wish that it was not so ; but if a 
subsequent messenger should arrive and inform him 
that his wife had passed the crisis in her disease, 
and was out of danger, the feelings of his heart 
would sympathize with his intellectual convictions, 
or, in other words, he would believe with the heart 
and the understanding. 

On hearing this illustration, he lay for a short 
time absorbed in thought, and then inquired with 
earnestness, " Is this all ? " 

I told him this was my view of the meaning of a 
belief of the heart, and referred him to the passage 
in Acts, where, on the day of Pentecost, as many as 
gladly received the word were baptized and added to 
the Church. 

He replied, " If this is so, then salvation is much 
easier to attain than I have ever supposed." 

I told him it was indeed so, and that sinners 
often rejected it on that account. They were look- 
ing for something mysterious and difficult, and when 
they were told that they had only to believe with 



ILLUSTRATIONS FROM LIFE. 103 

the heart, like the Assyrian leper, they would go 
away disappointed, and often displeased. 

The next time I called to see him I found him 
much more unwell, but full of joy and peace. He 
seemed to believe with the heart that God had raised 
His son Jesus Christ from the dead, to be a Prince 
and a Saviour, to give repentance and remission of 
sins. He continued to sink rapidly under his dis- 
ease, and in a few weeks closed his earthly career, 
rejoicing in the simplicity of the Gospel of Christ. 

A SKEPTICAL LAWYER. 

This same pastor relates the following experience. 
A lawyer in my parish, though he did not profess 
himself an infidel, was skeptical in regard to the 
things of religion, and gave himself no concern about 
them. He was present, however, at a religious 
meeting, and witnessed the dreadful struggle of an 
awakened infidel, and from that time had enjoyed no 
quiet rest. Calling to see him, I found him walking 
the floor of his room, wringing his hands, and utter- 
ing loud groans, like one in all the bitterness of 
despair. When he saw me he exclaimed, " Oh, I am 
lost ! I am lost ! " He felt that he had sinned away 
the day of grace, — that when Christ had called he 
had not regarded, and that when " fear was coming 
like desolation, and destruction like a whirlwind," 
though he called the Saviour would not answer him. 

I told him that God was merciful, and that Christ 



104 ILLUSTRATIONS FROM LIFE. 

invited sinners to come to Him, and said He would 
in no wise cast them out. 

" Yes/' was his reply, " His invitations have been 
sounding in my ears all my life, but I have hated 
instruction, and my heart has despised reproof ; and 
now I have nothing but a fearful looking-for of 
judgment and fiery indignation from the presence of 
the Lord." 

" You do injustice to the tender mercy and loving 
kindness of your Redeemer. He tells you that 
though your sins be as scarlet, His blood can make 
them white as snow. He says, ' Come unto me all 
ye who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give 
you rest/ " 

" I feel that this is what aggravates my guilt 
and makes my case so hopeless," he replied ; 
"Jesus, after dying for my sins, has been all my 
life long waiting to be gracious, and I have been 
grieving His Holy Spirit and indulging in skepti- 
cism." 

" But you must not add to all your other sins that 
of resisting God's Spirit now, when He is convincing 
you of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment. 
God is yet waiting to be gracious, and you ought to 
adore the riches of that grace, which, when you have 
sinned so long, and against so much light, can yet 
strive with you by His Holy Spirit to bring you 
to the Saviour." 

" Do you think the Spirit is yet striving with me, 
and that there is yet hope for my guilty soul ? " 



ILLUSTRATIONS FROM LIFE. 105 

" Certainly. If the Spirit had been withdrawn 
from you, and God had given you up, you would 
have remained stupid. If you perish it will be be- 
cause you will not now come to Christ that you may 
have life. The Holy Ghost says, ' To-day if you 
will hear His voice, harden not your heart.' ' 

" Do you suppose that that text is suited to my 
case, and that I may consider it as addressed to 
me?" 

" It is addressed to all impenitent sinners who 
live under the light of the Gospel, and to you among 
the rest. It is my privilege and duty, as a minister 
of Christ, to offer you pardon and eternal life, upon 
the terms of the Gospel. As though God did be- 
seech you by me, I pray you in Christ's stead, be ye 
reconciled to God." 

He became more composed, and seemed deeply 
interested in the offer of mercy, but was exceedingly 
oppressed by a sense of his guilt. After praying 
with him, and making such further suggestions to 
him as I thought his case required, I left him, feel- 
ing that he was not far from the kingdom. In the 
course of the afternoon he indulged a hope in Christ, 
and became as happy as he had been miserable. 

A SWEARER CURED. 

During the progress of revival meetings in a 
southern city, conducted by the writer, a prominent 
citizen arose in an inquiry meeting, and, addressing 
the leader, said, " I've been to these services for 



106 ILLUSTRATIONS FROM LIFE. 

three or four evenings, and about all I've heard is 
that if a man believes in Jesus Christ he is a Chris- 
tian : now, sir, can a man swear and be a Christian ? " 

It was necessary to be brief and to avoid discus- 
sion in the presence of many young inquirers, so I 
replied, u Peter swore and he was a Christian." 

" True," replied the gentleman, " but that is the only 
time we know of Peter swearing, and I've been doing 
it all my life, and I've believed ever since I was a 
child. What would you do if you were in my place ? " 

" If I believed in Christ, and was bound by the 
habit of profanity," I replied, "I would ask Him to 
give me the victory over my sin, and I would persist 
in asking until I'd get the answer." 

The gentleman sat down. At the close of the 
meeting he sought an interview. I allowed him to 
talk without interrupting him for some time, and 
then said, " Captain, do you honestly believe that 
Jesus Christ is the Son of God ? " 

" I do," was his emphatic reply. 

" Do you really desire to quit swearing ? " 

"I surely do." 

" Do you believe God hears and answers prayer ? " 

-I do." 

"Let us kneel down and ask Him to give you 
the victory." 

We prayed ; and as we rose from our knees, he 
said, with considerable animation, " I have tried over 
and over again, and am just about discouraged. One 
thing is sure : I will never join the church till I quit 



ILLUSTRATIONS FROM LIFE, 107 

swearing." I approved of his determination with 
reference to church affiliation, but said, "We have 
asked God to give you the victory over your bad 
habit ; do you believe He will answer our prayer ?" 

"Well, I could believe it if I had not been so 
long under its power, and had more favorable en- 
vironment/' 

" But < He is able to do exceeding abundantly 
above all that we ask or think, according to the 
power that worketh in us,' " were the words I now 
quoted, and said, " That ought to include your case. 
If you believe in Him you can trust Him to answer 
this prayer, and to ' supply all your need according 
to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus/ ' 

" I'll trust Him," was the reply ; and thanking me 
for my patience with him, he bade me good-night. 

A letter from one of the pastors in that city, 
written to me a few weeks subsequently, informed 
me of the captain's connection with his church. I 
at once sent my congratulations, and received a 
characteristic business letter, in which he said, " The 
Lord did answer our prayer. He has taken away 
the swearing habit, and put a new song in my 
mouth." 

THE GREAT FOUNTAIN. 

An aged gentleman was on a visit to one of the 
noted American watering places. Whilst taking a 
draught of water one morning at the spring, a lady 
came up to take her usual glass at the same time. 
The gentleman, turning towards her in a pleasant 



108 ILLUSTRATIONS FROM LIFE. 

yet thoughtful manner, asked, " Have you ever drunk 
at that Great Fount am?" 

The lady colored and looked surprised, but turned 
away without a word of reply. 

In the following winter the gentleman was in 
Rochester, when he was invited to attend a meeting 
for religious conference and prayer. At the close 
of the meeting he was asked to visit a lady who was 
dying. As he entered the sick room the lady fixed 
her eyes very intently upon the gentleman, and said, 
with a smile, "Do you not know me ? " 

"No; are we not strangers to each other?" was 
the reply. 

"Do you not recollect asking a woman at the 
spring last year, < Have you ever drunk at that Great 
Fountain ' ? " 

"Yes," said the gentleman, "I do remember." 

" Well, sir, I am that person. I thought at the 
time you were very rude, but your words kept ring- 
ing in my ears. They followed me to my chamber, 
to my pillow. I was without peace or rest till I 
found Christ. I now expect shortly to die, and you, 
under God, were instrumentally the means of my 
salvation. Be as faithful to others as you have been 
to me. Never be afraid to talk to strangers on the 
subject of religion." 

What a blessing was granted on this short but 
faithful word ! Little do Christians know how God 
may own His truth. Let us faithfully scatter the 
precious seed, and He will give the increase. 



OPPORTUNITIES. 



11 Say not ye, There are yet four months, and then cometh the 
harvest ? behold, I say unto you, Lift up your eyes, and look on 
the fields, that they are white already unto harvest. ,, 

" The busy world shoves angrily aside 
The man who stands with arms akimbo set, 
Until occasion tell him what to do ; 
And he who waits to have his task marked out 
Shall die and leave his errand unfulfilled." 

" So then, as we have opportunity, let us work that which is 
good toward all men, and especially toward them that are of the 
household of faith." 



Ps. xxxii. 6. I. Cor. xvi. 9. 

Eccl. ix. 10. Prov. x. 5. 

Matt. ix. 37, 38. Jer. viii. 20. 

Mark iv. 29. Matt. xx. 1-6. 

John iv. 35. Luke xiii. 7. 

John v. 1-9 John xii. 33. 
Eph. v. 16. 



VIII.— OPPORTUNITIES. 

Opportunities for personal work are as abundant 
as are people. They are everywhere. They hardly 
need be made ; they present themselves. 

The official organ of one of the fraternal benefit 
societies says, in pleading for greater activity among 
its members : " To bring in one other member each 
year involves no Herculean labor. It involves no 
expense, no neglect of one's business, nor even a 
sacrifice of one's leisure moments. It merely re- 
quires the exercise on some friend of the persuasive 
force that nearly every man has if he will trouble 
himself to use it." 

The difficulty is not in failure of opportunity, but 
in failure to take advantage of and follow up oppor- 
tunity. Put importunity alongside of opportunity, 
and the world will be evangelized in this generation. 

It is a common mistake to presume that personal 
religious work must find its opportunity alone among 
the unconverted or non-professing Christians. On 
the contrary, most favorable conditions for such 
effort are found among our fellow-Christians. Per- 
sonal work with each other is not merely desirable ; 
it is necessary, if the interests of the Church mil- 
itant are to be promoted and her members are to 
glorify God in their bodies. And if a man can find 



1 12 OFF OR TUNITIES. 

no favorable opportunity with his fellow-man he can 
do personal work with himself, and is without excuse 
for neglecting it. 

Opportunities may be found then : (i) with Chris- 
tians ; (2) with non-Christians ; and (3) with ourselves. 

I. PERSONAL WORK WITH CHRISTIANS. 

Here is a field which will admit of largest cultiva- 
tion and produce most gratifying results. The old 
rule for fostering religion cannot be improved on : 
" And these words, which I command thee this day, 
shall be upon thine heart : and thou shalt teach 
them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of 
them when thou sittest in thine house, and when 
thou walkest by the way." 

Obedience to this old injunction will solve the 
social problem of the Church and transform the life 
of the world. It will make undesirable and even 
ridiculous the employment of " amateur theatricals " 
and the tinsel of the stage in an attempt to hold 
together and interest the young people of the Church. 
The prevalent cry for recreation is a snare of the 
devil, and puts in peril the Christian man or woman 
who gives heed to it. It has already drawn the 
Christian father from the bosom of his family to 
the game and gossip room of the club ; it has taken 
the Christian mother from the hearthstone to the 
matinee of questionable performance, and to the 
whist and dancing party conducted for the benefit (?) 
of charitable organizations ; it is putting young men 



OPPORTUNITIES. 113 

and young women into college to train for athletic 
sports and to become adepts in the practices of 
" swell society." Yielding to this constantly in- 
creasing desire for recreation, society is polished and 
turned loose upon the world with little, if any, con- 
sideration for others save as they may minister to 
its selfish interest. The ambition of social life is 
coming more and more to be self-centered, its motto 
being, " Eat, drink, and be merry." 

How different, how grand, how noble would life 
be if it were fed and nurtured according to the prin- 
ciples of the kingdom of God ! Matthew Henry 
says, in his comment on the words we quoted above 
from Deuteronomy : " Thou shalt talk of these things 
with due reverence and seriousness for the benefit 
not only of thy children, but of thy other domestics, 
thy friends and companions, as thou sittest in thy 
house, either at work, or at meat, or at rest, or to 
receive visits ; and when thou walkest by the way, 
either for diversion, or for conversation, or in jour- 
neys ; when at night thou art retiring from thy family 
to lie down for sleep, and when in the morning thou 
art risen up and returnest to thy family again. 
Take all occasions to discourse with those about 
thee of divine things ; not of unrevealed mysteries 
or matters of doubtful disputation, but of the plain 
truths and laws of God and the things that belong 
to our peace. So far is it from being reckoned a 
diminution to the honor of sacred things to make 
them the subject of our familiar discourse, that they 



114 OPPORTUNITIES. 

are recommended to us to be talked of ; for the more 
conversant we are with them the more we shall 
admire them and be affected with them, and may 
thereby be instrumental to communicate divine light 
and heat." 

Why should not children of the King find delight 
in talking about the things of the kingdom and the 
great blessings conferred upon all whose citizenship 
is in heaven ? The language of every Christian 
should be : " Come and hear, all ye that fear God, 
and I will declare what He hath done for my soul." 
The need of personal work among Christians, one 
with another, is well expressed by Paul in his letter 
to the Hebrews : " But exhort one another day by 
day, so long as it is called to-day, lest any one of 
you be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin." And 
the encouragement for personal work is found in the 
words of Malachi : " Then they that feared the Lord 
spake one with another : and the Lord hearkened 
and heard, and a book of remembrance was written 
before Him for them that feared the Lord and that 
thought upon His name. And they shall be mine, 
saith the Lord of hosts, in the day that I do make 
even a peculiar treasure ; and I will spare them, as 
as man spareth his own son that serveth him." 

II. OPPORTUNITIES FOR PERSONAL WORK WITH 
NON-CHRISTIANS. 

Even among this class, opportunities are readily 
found. The world is hungry for the old story of the 



OPPOR TUN I TIES. 1 15 

Cross. Non-Christians are often more willing to dis- 
cuss religious questions than are Christians them- 
selves. It is the rarest exception for one to be 
repulsed who discreetly approaches another on this 
subject. Such is the testimony of a number of 
prominent personal workers. In the writer's expe- 
rience, which has been somewhat extended, and 
among all classes of men, my endeavor to interest 
persons in religious conversation has been, with two 
or three exceptions, gratefully appreciated. I have 
often said, and I believe it almost universally true, 
that men have a spot in the heart which is easily 
found, and readily responds to the appeal of the 
Gospel. In fact, there is in most persons real gen- 
uine solicitude for their own spiritual welfare, and 
such persons frequently surprise the personal worker 
with their readiness and eagerness to engage in 
religious conversation. 

Opportunity ? There it is in your home : your 
son, your daughter, your brother, your sister, your 
husband, your wife, your servant. 

Opportunity ? There it is in your place of busi- 
ness : your employee, your employer. The story 
has often been told how Sir George Williams, the 
founder of the Young Men's Christian Associations, 
was discovered praying, when a boy, by his employer, 
for whom he was pleading with God in the quiet of 
his own room. 

Opportunity ? There it is in the community of 
which you are a part. You can be the means of 



116 OPPORTUNITIES, 

great blessing to your fellow-student. The man 
next to you needs you. The writer was invited to 
address the students of one of the leading theolog- 
ical seminaries on personal work. During a portion 
of the hour devoted to " quiz," one of the students 
said : " Where shall we find opportunity for this 
sort of work, shut up as we are here ? We have but 
little time to go out and look for them.' , It was 
only an hour before this, when waiting to be pre- 
sented to the class, that one of the janitors came 
through the reception room, carrying a hod of coal 
in each hand. Accosting him, I said, "This is a 
fine building you have to care for/' " Yes," was his 
reply, "and they're a fine lot of gentlemen in it." 
" It must make your work all the more pleasant," I 
said, "to have such men to work for. I trust you 
are a Christian." "No," came the ready reply; 
" I've had no one to help me in that way ; you see 
I'm only a janitor." 

Opportunities, my brother? You will find them 
without half trying. There goes that little street 
boy. He just passed you : you heard the oath, and 
let him go without a word of gentle rebuke. A 
prominent business man in Boston, a Christian, — 
one of the busiest of men, — stopped on his way 
from the train to have his shoes shined. " Business 
pretty good, my boy?" said the merchant. "Some 
days good, and some days it don't cut much of a 
figure," was the quick reply. " Which is your best 
day ? " asked the merchant. " Sunday," said the 



OPPORTUNITIES. 117 

boot-black. " Then you don't get to church, I pre- 
sume." "No, sir." "Would you like to go to Sun- 
day School ? " " I can't ; I must attend to my cus- 
tomers." "Well, you can get some time to read, 
can't you?" "Yes, I do that nights." "Well," 
said the merchant, as he handed the little fellow a 
quarter of a dollar, "never mind the change. Here 
is a little book I want to have you read, and the 
next time I come along you can tell me how you like 
it." That is taking advantage of opportunity. That 
is personal work. If every Christian did a little of it, 
the world would be the better for our being in it, 
and we would be the better and richer for having 
tried to help some one along as we hurry through it. 
" They that be wise (that cause to understand) shall 
shine as the brightness of the firmament ; and they 
that turn many to righteousness as the stars for 
ever and ever." 

III. OPPORTUNITIES FOR PERSONAL WORK WITH 
OURSELVES. 

These opportunities are as much neglected and are 
as important as are those already discussed. Man 
is steward of a new nature when he is born of God. 
He is exhorted to "grow in the grace and knowledge 
of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ ; " and yet we 
fail to cultivate this new life. We are more con- 
cerned with making a living than making a life, as 
the late Governor Russell of Massachusetts sug- 
gested in an address to students upon one occasion. 



118 OFF OR T UNI TIES. 

Man ought not to shirk this responsibility. He is 
taught by the Word, and by his own experience, that 
a great conflict is raging between the flesh and the 
Spirit, and that he is therefore to " fight the good 
fight of faith, and follow after righteousness." He 
must " abstain from fleshly lusts which war against 
the soul/' Solomon's proverb, " Keep thy heart 
above all that thou guardest," is significant of the 
watchfulness necessary to the spiritual welfare of 
every Christian. " If you would keep the apple of 
the eye from injury, not only as a most sensitive 
part of the frame and one most liable to derange- 
ment, but as the organ of the highest of all the 
senses, a sense for the loss of which not thousands 
of gold and silver could compensate, much more 
keep thy heart, so delicate a thing as it is, so sus- 
ceptible of complete disorganization from the mere 
dust of an evil thought, so precious too, as being 
that organ of the moral nature by which you discern 
and apprehend divine truth." " The waste of ani- 
mal life is repaired, not once for all, but continually, 
by food and sleep ; and the spiritual life, a far more 
delicate thing, must perforce waste and decay 
under the exposure of many adverse influences to 
which it is subjected in the world. It too requires, 
therefore, continually to repair its forces." The 
process suggested by these remarks affords an op- 
portunity for personal work with ourselves, which 
should be improved not only for our own self- 
culture, but in order that we may be kept in 



OFF OR TUNITIES. 1 19 

condition to render the more acceptable service 
in behalf of others. 

How few of us obey the injunction of the 
Psalmist, "Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse 
his way ? By taking heed thereto according to thy 
word." Or that of Paul, "Work out your own sal- 
vation with fear and trembling." We are to " cleanse 
ourselves from all defilement of flesh and spirit, 
perfecting holiness in the fear of God." "And we 
desire that each one of you may show the same dil- 
igence unto the fullness of hope even to the end : 
that ye be not sluggish, but imitators of them who, 
through faith and patience, inherit the promises." 
"Wherefore, brethren, give the more diligence to 
make your calling and election sure : for if ye do 
these things ye shall never stumble : for thus shall 
be richly supplied unto you the entrance into the 
eternal kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus 
Christ." 

" Son of man, help me to work out the plan of 
Thy salvation. Cause me to lay my stores of honey 
in the right place ; I mean, the right place for Thee. 
Put it where its sweetness may refresh others, even 
though its investment may be a failure to myself. 
Fill me with fear and trembling at the solemnity of 
my own position. Impress me with the awfulness of 
being an unconscious worker for Thee. Teach me 
the untold possibilities of my smallest action. Tell 
me that the stone which I leave in the desert may 
be one day the center of Thy city, not because it 



120 OPPORTUNITIES. 

has changed its place, but because Thy places have 
come around it. Let me consecrate by prayer my 
most common deed ere ever it quits my hand, know- 
ing that Thou hast a motive behind my motive. It 
shall be cast further than my utmost strength can 
throw, for it is impelled by a purpose higher than 
its own." 



" The time for sowing seed it is wearing quickly dune, 
An' the time for winning souls will be over verra sune ; 
Then let us a' be active, if a fruitfu' sheaf we'd bring 
To adorn the royal table i' the palace o' the King." 



APPENDIX A. 

USEFUL SCRIPTURE 
TEXTS. 



USEFUL SCRIPTURE TEXTS. 

The passages of Scripture contained in the fol- 
lowing pages were originally for the benefit of 
persons of certain conditions and needs. They 
are equally applicable to-day in the case of persons 
whose experiences are similar to those for whom 
they were first used. The application of many of 
them in personal work is well illustrated in Torrey's 
"How to Bring Men to Christ." They will be of 
little service, however, unless used in a prayerful 
spirit and with a sense of their deep signification. 
The truth embodied in any portion of Scripture 
becomes a living principle when appreciated and 
appropriated, and under such conditions can be used 
in work for the reclamation of others with well 
founded expectation of success. A most helpful 
procedure for the reader who desires to engage in 
personal work would be to study the verses indicated 
by the following references, being careful to note 
the context from which each is taken, and, with 
the use of the marginal references in the Bible, 
follow the line of truth taught to its ultimate con- 
clusion. 

The order as to classes of individuals is the same 
as that followed in the chapter on opportunities. 



124 USEFUL SCRIPTURE TEXTS. 

CHRISTIANS. 

Let us consider first, then, texts for use among 
ourselves as Christians. Here we have two classes, 
the spiritual and the carnal, or the normal and the 
backslidden Christians. The need of encouragement 
and incitement among our fellow-Christians of the 
class first mentioned suggests the use of the follow- 
ing:— 

An occasion for thanksgiving : Ps. xl. 2, 3 ; Ps. 
xviii. 1-3 ; Ps. xvi. 11 ; Isa. xliii. 25, 26; John xiv. 
1-4; John xvii. 24-26; Eph. i. 3-14; Phil. iv. 7-9; 
I. John i. 7 ; I. John iii. 1-3. 

An occasion for concern : I. Cor. xi. 27-30; I. Tim. 
v. 6 ; I. Peter ii. 11. 

"Come unto me;" "Take my yoke upon you;" 
"Learn of me;" "Go preach the Gospel to every 
creature." 

BACKSLIDERS. 

To backslide is " to turn gradually from the faith 
and practise of religion." We probably include in 
this class a good many persons who have never ex- 
perienced the joy of salvation, and who cannot, 
therefore, cry for its restoration. It is fair to pre- 
sume that many professed Christians have simply 
become members of a church because it was popular 
in the community in which they lived ; or they 
have "joined the church" because their parents or 
guardian urged them to do it. A genuine backslider, 
a person who has gone away from God through 



USEFUL SCRIPTURE TEXTS. 125 

carelessness or wilful disobedience, becomes, like the 
prodigal son, sick of sin or tired of his wanderings, 
and is eager and glad to return to the Father's 
house. " Thine own wickedness shall correct thee, 
and thy backslidings shall reprove thee." God man- 
ifested the most tender solicitude for this class in 
the earliest history of His chosen ones, and His 
loving, patient heart yearns for all such now. No 
class of people affords a more favorable and more 
promising opportunity for personal effort. And in 
no class is there, probably, a greater need for such 
effort. The Church is shorn of her power and has 
lost the art of soul-winning because of her backslid- 
ing. There has been a gradual turning from the 
faith and practise of religion, until now notes of 
alarm are being sounded and strenuous efforts are 
being made to stay the current of worldliness and 
diabolism which threaten to undermine and destroy 
the Christian safeguards of civilization. Personal 
work, intelligently, lovingly, and persistently prose- 
cuted among this class, will result in a revival of 
religion throughout the Church, commanding the 
wonder and admiration of the world, and inciting 
men to a personal acceptance and confession of 
Jesus Christ as Saviour and Lord. 

The following references indicate only a few of 
the texts of Scripture which will be of service if 
wisely used : — 

Ex. xxxii. 7-14; Ezra viii. 22; Prov. xiv. 14; 
Jer. ii. 13, 19, 22; Jer. iii. 12-15, 22 \ J er - lv - 



126 USEFUL SCRIPTURE TEXTS. 

1-3; Hos. xiv. 1-7; John xxi. 15-17; Heb. x. 38; 
Rev. ii. 4, 5. 

THE UNCONVERTED. 

The Unbeliever. 

(a) Present condition: John iii. 18; John xvi. 
8, 9 ; Gal. iii. 10 ; Rom. iii. 19. 

(b) Future condition : John iii. 36 ; Prov. i. 24-31 ; 
Ps. v. 5; Ps. vi. 8; Ps. i. 6; Matt. xxv. 10; John 
viii. 21 ; Matt. xxv. 46 ; Rev. xxi. 8 ; I. Thess. i. 7-10. 

(c) Salvation promised: Luke xix. 10; Rom. v. 8 ; 
I. Tim. i. 15 ; I. Peter iii. 18 ; I. John iv. 9, 10. 

(d) Urged to repent : Ezek. xxxiii. 1 1 ; Isa. xlv. 7 ; 
Mark i. 15 ; Acts. xvi. 30, 31 ; Luke v. 32. 

(e) Hope alone in Christ : Acts x. 43 ; John iii. 16 ; 
John xiv. 6; I. John v. 11, 12; I. Tim. ii. 5, 6; 
John i. 12 ; Gal. iv. 4, 5. 

A STUDY FOR SELF-EXAMINATION. 

Ps. Ixxxv. 8 ; Ps. cxix. 18; Ps. lxvi. 18; Ps. xix. 
12-14 ; John xv. 7, 8 ; I. Peter ii. 11; I. Tim. v. 22 ; 
Jude 20, 21; Ps. cxxi. ; Ps. cxxiv. 8; Heb. iv. 16; 
Phil. iv. 19; Isa. xxvi. 3; John xv. 7; Matt. xiii. 
10, 11 ; Matt. v. 16. 

One who is familiar with the Bible can generally 
refer to a text which will meet the objection urged 
by persons who either do not desire to become Chris- 
tians or who have difficulty in seeing the way clearly. 
Take, for example, the following : — 

"I am good enough:" Gen. vi. 5; Ps. Ii. 5-7; 
Luke xviii. 19. 



USEFUL SCRIPTURE TEXTS. 127 

"I am as good as most Christians:" Rom. xiv. 
10-12; II. Cor. v. 10; Rev. xx. 11, 12, 15. 

"I have never done anything really bad:" Luke 
xvi. 15 ; James ii. 10. 

"I cannot give up my pleasures : " Eccles. ii. 1; 
Eccles. xi. 9 ; Ps. xvi. 1 1. 

"I know I shall fail :" John vi. 37 ; II. Tim. i. 12 ; 
II. Tim. iv. 18. 

"I cannot now, but will some time:" Luke xiv. 
17; Acts xxiv. 25; James iv. 13, 14; Luke xii. 
19, 20. 

"I am too great a sinner:" Luke v. 32; Luke 
xix. 10 ; I. Tim. i. 15. 

" My day of grace has passed:" Ex. xxxiv. 5-7; 
II. Chron. xxx. 9; Isa. Iv. 7. 

"I do not feel concerned:" Rom. xiii. 11 ; Eph. 
v. 14 ; Heb. ii. 3. 

" I cannot know that these things are true : " 
Acts xvii. 1 1 ; John v. 39 ; John vii. 1 7. 

"It will cost me my living:" Matt. vi. 33; Ps. 
lxxxiv. 1 1 ; Rom. xiv. 7. 

"It will prevent my becoming rich:" I. Tim. vi. 
9, 10; Mark viii. 36, 37; Rev. iii. 17, 18. 

"I cannot hold my friends:" Matt. x. 37; Matt, 
xxii. 37 ; Phil. iii. 8. 

" How may I know that Christ is the Son of God ? " 
John xx. 30, 31 ; John x. 23-25 ; I. John v. 13, 20 ; 
Mark iv. 11. 

" How may I know that the Bible is true ? " John 
vii. 17. 



128 USEFUL SCRIPTURE TEXTS. 

"Will God not save me if I do my best?" Eph. 
ii. 8, 9 ; Titus iii. 5-8. 

" Why must a man believe in Christ to be saved ? " 
John xiv. 6 ; Acts iv. 12 ; Gal. ii. 16 ; Rom. iii. 23-26. 

"How may I know I am forgiven ? " Ps. xxxii. 5 ; 
Prov. xxviii. 1 3 ; I. John i. 7-9. 

"If I accept Christ, should I unite with the 
Church ? " Yes ; for the following reasons : 

1. The organized unity of Christians in the 
Church is the testimony which the world needs. 
John xvii. 21. 

2. Christ identified the Church with Himself ; the 
Apostle calls it His own body. Membership of one 
implies membership of both. John xv. 5 ; Eph. i. 
22, 23. 

3. Christ puts union with the Church, profession 
of faith by baptism, next to faith itself as a condition 
of salvation. Mark xvi. 16. 

4. One must unite with the Church to come into 
the closest unity with Christ himself. Eph. v. 30-32. 

5. One must unite with the Church to be identi- 
fied with the only cause which is wholly right, true, 
strong, and certain to outlive and prevail over all 
others. Matt. xvi. 18. 

6. It is only by uniting with others in the living 
body of the Church that we can fittingly remember 
Christ in the way of His choice and show forth His 
death till He come. I. Cor. xi. 23-26. 

7. To stand outside the Church is to slight what 
is most precious in the sight of God. Acts xx. 28. 



APPENDIX B. 

THE 
WORKER'S LIBRARY. 



THE WORKER'S LIBRARY. 

There is a sense in which a library is never com- 
plete. New books are constantly coming out, some 
of which would better never have been published, 
but many serve a good purpose. Unless the per- 
son making the purchase is fully competent to de- 
cide on the merit of a book, advice should be 
sought of competent authority before placing it 
among other books for reference in the study of the 
Bible. When obtained, care should be exercised in 
the use to which the book is put. There is a tend- 
ency to examine the " helps " rather than to examine 
the Scriptures. The old Scotch woman told her 
minister that she was coming to like the com- 
mentary he gave her since she found the Bible 
throwing a heap o' light on it. Her method of 
using the commentary suggests a test by which the 
student may determine the value of such "helps." 

Comparatively few books are necessary in the 
study of the Scriptures. The Bible is its own best 
commentary. Scripture compared with Scripture, 
as suggested by the marginal references, will add to 
one's knowledge, and if the investigation is pursued 
in reliance upon the Holy Spirit, He will enlighten 
the mind and increase the power of spiritual discern- 
ment in the reverent, trustful student. The object 



132 THE WORKER'S LIBRARY. 

in study determines largely the interest put into it, 
and the profit gotten out of it. Dr. Herrick John- 
son has said, " Study the Bible to find Christ, and a 
glory gilds the sacred page one never dreamed of." 

The books most desirable for a Worker's Library 
are put in a separate list and constitute the first 
table below. 

A good copy of the Bible. 

The revised version is preferable, especially 
now that it is issued with marginal refer- 
ences. Care should be exercised in the se- 
lection of a Bible with reference to the 
quality of binding and paper. The best is 
the cheapest. 

A Concordance. 

Young's Analytical is probably the best, 
though Cruden's is very good and less bulky. 

Bible Text Book. 

This is a book relating to persons, places, 
and subjects occurring in the Bible. The one 
published by the American Tract Society is 
as good as any. 

Bible Dictionary. 

Smith's or SchafF s. 

A good Commentary. 

There is no better comprehensive Com- 
mentary than Matthew Henry's. Jamieson 
Fausset and Brown's is practical and concise, 
and cannot be too strongly commended. 



THE WORKER'S LIBRARY. 133 

" Analogy of the Bible," Butler 

" Life of Christ," Edersheim 

" Through the Eternal Spirit," .... Cummings 
" Christian Teaching and Life," .... Hovey 
"The History of the Christian Church," . Fisher 

The following additional books are desirable for a 
study of the subjects indicated by their titles : — 

" Ministry of the Spirit," Gordon 

" The Spirit-Filled Life," MacNeil 

" Work of the Holy Spirit in Man," . . . Tophel 

" Veni Creator," Moule 

" The Mission of the Comforter," . . . . Hare 
" Plain Papers on the Holy Spirit," . . . Scofield 
"The Acts of the Holy Spirit," .... Pierson 
" Prayer as a Theory and a Fact," . . . Faunce 
" The Ministry of Intercession," .... Murray 

" The Lord's Prayer," Hall 

" The Divinity of our Lord," Liddon 

"The Christ of History," Young 

*"The Man Christ Jesus," Speer 

" The Bible, its Meaning and Supremacy," . Farrar 

" How we got our Bible," Smyth 

" How God Inspired the Bible," .... Smyth 

"John," Godet 

" Romans," Chalmers 

" Galatians," Luther 

"Ephesians," Graham 

* Published by the International Committee of Young Men's Christian 
Associations. 



134 THE WORKER'S LIBRARY, 

" The Treasury of David/' Spurgeon 

"The Philosophy of the Plan of Salvation," Annon 
" The Way of Life," Hodge 

*PAMPHLETS ON PERSONAL WORK. 

" Personal Work : How Organized and 

Accomplished," Mott-Ober 

" Christ as a Personal Worker," .... Messer 

" Christ Among Men," McConaughy 

" Outlines for Christian Workers," . . Mehaffey 

FOR PERSONAL DEVOTIONAL READING. 

"Thoughts on Personal Religion," . . Goulburn 
"The Imitation of Christ," . . Thomas a Kempis 

" Light on Life's Duties," Meyer 

" Lectures to Professing Christians," . . Finney 
*" Bible Study for Spiritual Growth," . . Mott 

*" The Morning Watch," Mott 

*" Secret Prayer," Mott 

* Published by the International Committee of Young Men's Christian 
Associations. 






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